Exploring the cultural flexibility of the ACT model as an effective therapeutic group intervention for Turkish speaking communities in East London

Abstract

This study describes a successful community-based partnership project between statutory and third-sector services in East London; The City and Hackney Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) Access Service [East London NHS Foundation Trust (ELFT)] collaborated with Derman, a local community organization supporting the well-being of Turkish-speaking communities, to explore the cultural adaptability of an empirically supported, third-wave cognitive behavioural intervention, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). The aim was to develop a culturally acceptable group that was responsive to the therapeutic needs of participants from Turkish-speaking communities. The study implemented a mixed-method analysis with a one group pre/post-test design to examine the effectiveness of a 7-session culturally adapted ACT group intervention and a descriptive approach was implemented to assess usefulness, relevance and acceptability. Results demonstrated an overall positive effect of the culturally adapted ACT intervention in terms of both symptoms and patient-reported outcomes. Participants showed significant improvements on measures of depression (p = 0.014), anxiety (p = 0.041) and psychological distress (p = 0.003). The magnitude of these changes was categorized as large, with effect sizes from 0.90 to 2.03. Qualitative responses indicated that the group was experienced as enjoyable and useful and was considered to be an accessible and acceptable therapeutic format. Although a pilot within clinical practice, the findings provide preliminary support for the clinical utility of ACT as an effective, culturally acceptable therapeutic approach for Turkish-speaking communities living in an urban UK setting. The study highlights the importance of culturally appropriate service development and a need for further research within this area.

Cultural adaptations of CBT: a summary and discussion of the Special Issue on Cultural Adaptation of CBT

“…Exploring the cultural flexibility of the ACT model as an effective therapeutic group intervention for Turkish speaking communities in East London (Perry et al, 2019) Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) is a trans-diagnostic intervention that has been tried both in the West and outside the West. This paper reports the cultural adaptation of ACT for the Turkish-speaking community in England.…”

Reducing Suicidal Ideation among Turkish Migrants in the Netherlands and in the UK A Pilot RCT of a guided Online Intervention

“…There is a preliminary evidence for the acceptability of a culturally adapted group intervention targeting first generation Turkish migrants in the UK (76). Similar to the content of our online intervention, Perry and colleagues adapted the context of their intervention by incorporating idioms of distress and cultural case examples (76). Their intervention was delivered in a group format in a community setting which was accessible especially for the first generation migrants (76).…”

“…Similar to the content of our online intervention, Perry and colleagues adapted the context of their intervention by incorporating idioms of distress and cultural case examples (76). Their intervention was delivered in a group format in a community setting which was accessible especially for the first generation migrants (76). Since the majority of participants considered the adaptations appropriate to the therapeutic needs of the traditional group of participants, it could be that not the content of adaptations but the format of delivery restricted the engagement with this group of participants.…”

“…These differences could be explained with the cultural differences in help-seeking patterns. For instance, it is well-known that Turkish migrants tend to delay help-seeking until the symptoms of distress are more severe (65)(66)(67)(68)(69)(70)(71)(72)(73)(74)(75)(76)(77)(78)(79)(80). It could be that when the psychological distress caused by suicidal thoughts is unbearable then stigma and shame attached to suicide might have less influence on their motivation to seek help.…”

Reducing Suicidal Ideation among Turkish Migrants in the Netherlands and in the UK: The Feasibility of a Randomised Controlled Trial of a Guided Online Intervention

“…There is a preliminary evidence for the acceptability of a culturally adapted group intervention targeting rst generation Turkish migrants in the UK (80).…”