Towards a Rainbow‐Coloured Therapeutic Community

Abstract

A rainbow‐coloured therapeutic community is a term inspired from South Africa's Rainbow Nation after its 46‐year period of apartheid. This term does not just represent the fact that South Africa is diverse but that skin colour was not going to be the defining factor in valuing the needs and wishes of its citizens. In the UK acute mental health services are overrepresented by people of colour. Most would agree that the caring profession should reflect the community that it serves, but will this be enough to reduce the overrepresentation of people of colour in acute services and inspire them to seek a service at an earlier stage? In this article I will look at the current state of play and then look at the efforts people have made to change the situation.