Ethnic density, health care seeking behaviour and expected discrimination from health services among ethnic minority people in England

The health of ethnic minority people is reported to be poorer in areas of lower ethnic density. Based on this literature, higher rates of health seeking behaviours would be expected among ethnic minorities resident in neighbourhoods of lower ethnic density. Should health seeking not increase in areas of lower ethnic density, a possible explanation might be that ethnic minority people resident in these neighbourhoods are not accessing services for fear of racial discrimination. The present study examined this hypothesis using two nationally-representative surveys from England. Health seeking behaviour did not vary by ethnic density. Lower ethnic density was associated with increased reports of expected discrimination from services, but also with increased satisfaction with services. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.