The extent to which cultural and religious disparities in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) might impact effectiveness of treatment and the mental health wellbeing of Muslims with South Asian family heritage living in the UK
Year: 2019

Overview: Muslims of South Asian family heritage living in the UK, have varying, yet typically significant, cultural and religious differences compared to the indigenous population. The context and extent of behaviour and life experiences drawn from familial heritage alongside the degree of British lifestyle assimilated, can manifest a complicated ecosystem. The mental health wellbeing of this sizeable and continually growing element of the UK population, falls to be considered in relation to the efficacy of available treatments. Given South Asian Muslims are amongst the most economically disadvantaged, recourse to NHS solutions are often inevitable. One of those treatments, CBT, whether that be of low or full intensity, is regarded as the gold standard offered through the NHS England IAPT programme. Moreover, CBT is more widely available than any other talking therapy from feegenerating independent accredited therapists. Cultural and religious awareness training together with recommended CBT adaptations for those serving BAME groups in general is evident and promoted. However, CBT efficacy for South Asian Muslims, whilst advocating techniques to encourage positive change in negative thinking, mood, and behaviours, must inevitably require an understanding of diverse endemic cultural nuances and an eclectic mix of fervent Islamic beliefs. This may require contextually profound appreciation of core individual drivers, requiring an arsenal of lived experiential cognitions for which there is no suggested panacea. Some tender that CBT is acultural and areligious; however, such a conceptual approach may be too superficial, undermining and overlooking the essence and drivers of individual cognitive distortion. Such a stance may ultimately inhibit treatment efficacy and the potential for sustained mental health wellbeing.  A comprehensive literature review will be undertaken through a thematic synthesis of the literature, to evaluate CBT and interactions with South Asian Muslims. This will include focus on evidence of: therapeutic outcomes; effectiveness of therapist cultural and religion based adaptation and integration; client relapse frequency; the basis for remission longevity.  using grounded theory to examine patterns arising form analysis of the primary data; and, remission rates alongside susbequent levels of sustained mental health wellbeing amongst SouthAsian Muslims resulting from CBT therapy. Development of a proposed diagnostic framework for the target group using particpatory action research and focus groups to effectively identify and inform CBT therapeutic methods.  The study will accord with the British Psychological Society Code of Ethics and Conduct, being subject to approval by the presiding ethics committee of the Department of Psychology, University of Huddersfield. Given this research is expected to produce novel outcomes, the research and appropriate anonymised data corpus would accordingly be tendered for publication.