‘You doctor yourself’: health beliefs, resilience and well-being among the Irish in Yorkshire

One dimension of inequality between social groups, as defined by socio-economic status, age, gender and increasingly ethnicity, is the experience of ill health and access to health services (Ahmad and Bradby, 2008). There is a burgeoning interest in the health inequalities that are prevalent among minority ethnic groups in both the UK and the USA (see Box 1) (Kelleher and Hillier, 1996; Nazroo, 1998; HseuhFen et al, 2004). Understandings and experiences of health and illness vary through time and across cultures (Kleinman, 1981). Religion and spirituality among minority ethnic groups may also have a bearing on health outcomes (Larson and Larson, 2003; Walls and Williams, 2004). Despite a growing focus on cultural ABSTRACT