ABSTRACT
For service users, and other members of minority ethnic communities, questions are often asked as to why there appears to be an endless stream of research, and, in their eyes, no action. Services appear not to change, and the point of continuous investigation is not clear. We will argue in this book, on the basis of research, that progress, albeit slow and often regrettably slow, is being made in the development of health and social care services for clients from minority ethnic groups, and that it is part of the responsibility of researchers to continue their work, as part of a process of maintaining, perhaps increasing, the momentum of change, and its continuous scrutiny. Of course, no one project or one collection of projects can itself bring about major change of the kind that users may demand: the contribution of research must rather be a slow chipping away at the received wisdom of those who feel that services are equally accessible to all, that they are colourblind, and that they need no change.
