Centre of Wellbeing’s Mohammed Sarwar gives speech at State of Health conference for BME communities

Mohammed Sarwar (left) attended the event as a speaker

Mohammed Sarwar, chief executive of Centre of Wellbeing, Training & Culture, attended the State of Health of Black and Minority Ethnic groups (BME) Greater Manchester at the Manchester Mechanics Conference Centre as a guest speaker on Tuesday 24 October.

Mr Sarwar said: “This was an excellent opportunity, not just to highlight the work of our organisation, but to provide our experience and knowledge to support other organisations and networks in how effectively we can work together to reach out to the BME community.

“There is goodwill out there, but the community and services need to engage more through trained staff, including bilingual staff who have a better understanding of cultural needs. Awareness has to be tailored to the needs of the target group, more regular visits and resources available.”

The event, organised by BHA for Equality in Health and Social Care, also included discussion workshops on mental health, cancer, dementia and sexual health.

Other guest speakers included Professor Carol Baxter CBE, Atiha Chaudhry (Chair, Greater Manchester BME Network), Jeanette Stanley (African & Caribbean Mental Health Services), Marcella Turner and Farida Anderson (Greater Manchester BME Cancer Partnership), Jeni Hirst (Passionate about Sexual Health), and Jon Rouse (Chief Officer Greater Manchester Health & Social Care Partnership).

Mr Sarwar added: “I was also very pleased to see that Jon Rouse is using our work in his presentation as a good practice for promoting work on dementia.”

BHA will provide a feedback report and a way forward from the discussions.