How equitable are psychological therapy services in South East London now? A comparison of referrals to a new psychological therapy service with participants in a psychiatric morbidity survey in the same London borough

摘要

PurposePsychological therapy services are sometimes characterised as being small and inequitable, with an over-representation of white middle class women. The ‘Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT)’ initiative is a programme in England that attempts to make evidence-based therapies accessible to more people more equitably. The aim of this study is to assess whether an IAPT service is delivering an equitable service a London borough. Patients using services at the Southwark IAPT service (n = 4,781) were compared with a sub-group of participants in the South East London Community Health study (SELCOH) with diagnosable mental health problems and who were also resident in Southwark (n = 196).