Not understanding the way a service works, or a person’s role, can stop a person or family with a migratory background from accessing and/or trusting a service that can offer them support and/or signpost them to further services that can help. Here, you will find a list of tools and strategies that can help practitioners to navigate the complexities of working with people with different cultural and national backgrounds.

The approaches noted below can help minimise misunderstandings when people with migrant backgrounds are unfamiliar with the way things are ‘done’ in the UK, and/or the role of specific services or practitioners. These strategies work well in combination with those outlined in the ‘communication barriers’ and ‘overcoming cultural bias’ themes of the webpage. 

1. Firstly, try and avoid assuming that you and the person that you are supporting have a shared understanding of job roles and services.  Remember:

• That they may not know why you are meeting with them, what they can expect from you, and your relationship to other organisations. 

• That even if a person recognises your job title, they may have a different experience of your profession in their country of origin which can lead to misunderstandings or feelings of mistrust.

• That although you may have explained your role to a service user,  yo u should also check if they are aware of other relevant services, what they do, and how they can access them.

2. In order to help develop trust, when you first make contact with a person, be open and:

• Explain who you are, your role, and why you are meeting with them.

• Be clear about what they can expect from you and/or your colleagues in the future.

• Ask if there is a similar role and/or service in their country of origin and, if so, ask them to tell you how that service works. This will allow you to talk through any differences and or similarities and to check if you have a shared understanding of your relationship. 

• Ask if they have any questions or worries about you working with them and make it clear that they can ask you and your colleagues questions at any time. 

3. Remember that these issues are not only relevant to newly arrived migrants, and that they should be revisited throughout your professional relationship with an individual or family by: 

• Remembering to check understanding and to provide time and space for service users to ask you questions about a particular service or practitioner. 

• Being reflective; if a person or family is not engaging with your service, you sense that they are suspicious of you, or they seem to misunderstand your role, revisit the suggestions listed above (in point 2). 

The information and case studies can be used by an individual, or to facilitate a group exercise for a team of practitioners.  

They have been developed to give you, or your team, an opportunity to:

• Reflect on the challenges identified by practitioners and migrant families relating to working with people from different cultural and national backgrounds.

• Consider if and why the challenges identified are relevant to your profession and the community in which you work. 

• Explore why understanding and communicating these differences is important.

• Consider the strategies, tools, and information available to identify and address these different understandings.

• Apply the knowledge and skills that you already have, and anything new you have learnt, to the case studies provided. 

How to use the resources:

To get the most out of using the information and case studies on this page, we suggest that you (or members of your team) follow the four steps set out below. Remember that reflections and experiences can be shared with other practitioners by accessing the online community for this theme: 

Stage 1: What practitioners and migrant families told us

• Read ‘what practitioners and families have told us’ and watch the short film, ‘Working with People from Different National and Cultural Backgrounds’. 

• Consider if and how the issues identified relate to your work with migrant communities and if there are any additional, but similar challenges that you experience in your particular profession or community. 

• Reflect on the ways in which the issues identified impact on your work, and the everyday lives of the people that you support.

• You can write your thoughts down, discuss them in you your team, or start a conversation on the online community. 

Stage 2:  What practitioners can do  

• Read the ‘things practitioners can do section’ on your own, making any notes that will help you to remember anything that might be helpful in the future. 

Stage 3:  The case studies

• Carefully read through the chosen case study and make notes on your immediate response to the case and any initial thoughts that you have. 

• Then respond to the questions posed at the bottom of the case study page.

• Write down your responses, discuss the responses in your team, or start a conversation in the online community. 

Stage 4: Applying your reflections

• During the following four weeks, spend five minutes each week reflecting on if and how your learning from completing the above stages has been helpful in your work with migrant communities. You can do this during any daily activity. 

• After four week, revisit your learning in more detail. Set a time in your diary to revisit your learning. This only needs to be 15 minutes or, if you are working as a group, an agenda item in a team meeting. Again, you can also discuss this with the online community.