Addressing Mental Health Inequities Through Cultural Humility: Integrating Culturally Informed Practice Across the Lifespan. Sponsored by ACLP's Global and Cultural SIG

Background
Mental health care inequities disproportionately impact culturally diverse populations,1 including racial and ethnic minorities, immigrants, and LGBTQ populations. The sociocultural differences between providers and their patients impact patient diagnosis, illness course, treatment, and outcomes.2 To address mental health disparities and inequity, we must understand how culture informs our practice of psychiatry and incorporate culturally informed practices into mental health care.

Approach
In this 90-minute interactive workshop sponsored by the ACLP Global and Cultural SIG, participants will gain an understanding of the evidence-base for culturally informed care in reducing mental health inequities across the lifespan. Participants will explore how their own cultural background influences their practice of psychiatry and learn specific strategies to integrate culturally informed care into daily practice in CL psychiatry, with a focus on cultural humility. Presenters will learn principles of and strategies for implementing culturally informed care practices, using examples from substance use disorder, perinatal, and geriatric populations. Knowledge acquisition will be reinforced through audience polling, case-based learning, integrated and interactive skill building sessions, as well as Q&A with the speaker panel.

Format
12 min: Introduction- Dr. Prom will explore the relationship between culture and mental health disparities, define culturally informed care, and explore the evidence-base for culturally informed care in reducing mental health inequities.

12 min: Substance Use Disorders- Dr. Fernandez will review the impact of culture in furthering the disparities in substance use disorder treatment and discuss potential solutions of improving care through a culturally informed approach.

12 min: Small group breakout- Participants will break out into groups of 3-4 and engage in a semi-structured group discussion focused on exploring their own cultural identity and reflecting how this might influence patient care.

12 min: Perinatal Populations- Using a case-based format, Dr. Sundararaj will discuss how the intersectionality of gender and cultural bias can affect patient care and specific ways in which the CL psychiatrist can help identify and target bias when working with the perinatal population.

12 min: Geriatric Populations- Dr. Vivoni Corominas will explore the role of culture on end of life care discussions and methods for utilizing cultural humility to engage patients and families in discussions around care planning.

15 min: Role-play breakout- Participants will receive a vignette for a mock CL consult and work with a partner to practice utilizing newly learned cultural humility skills.

10 min: Q&A with speaker panel

5 min: Review of Learning/Take-home points

Conclusion: This workshop will challenge participants to explore their own cultural background and practices in their approach to patient care and provide them with the skills and resources to integrate culturally informed care into their daily practice going forward.

References
1) McGuire TG, Miranda J. New evidence regarding racial and ethnic disparities in mental health: policy implications. Health Aff (Millwood). 2008 Mar-Apr;27(2):393-403.

2) Atdjian S, Vega WA. Disparities in mental health treatment in U.S. racial and ethnic minority groups: implications for psychiatrists. Psychiatr Serv. 2005 Dec;56(12):1600-2.