Culturally Responsive Care in Mental Health

CE Course Description

Culturally responsive care is vital in mental health care. Understanding cultural traditions and values enables providers to treat clients with dignity and compassion and to respond appropriately to their wishes and desires. Culturally responsive care is the intentional and consistent decision mental healthcare providers make to see, respect, and celebrate the aspects that make each person unique. Clinicians must work towards fully seeing and valuing clients for all aspects of their identity, background, and experiences. In addition, culture impacts the health comprehension, treatment options, and diagnostic claims of an individual, as well as help-seeking behaviors. Upon completing this course, behavioral health care providers will have an increased knowledge of culturally responsive care and how to implement it in their daily work. 

Author: Kimberley Fortin, LCSW-R

CE Course Objectives

1. Identify culturally responsive care and its importance and impact on mental health care delivery.
2. Examine factors that impact mental health care accessibility and treatment, including cultural beliefs, stigma, and disparities.
3. Explore steps clinicians and organizations can take to improve culturally responsive care.  

CE Course Outline

Introduction (5 mins)

1. Overview of course purpose and objectives (5 mins)

Section 1: Terms (25 mins)

1. Culture and Cultural Adaptation (3 mins)
2. Cultural Competency and Cultural Identity (4 mins)
3. Cultural Humility and Cultural Safety (3 mins)
4. Bias (5 mins):
5. Explicit Bias (3 mins)
6. Implicit Bias (2 mins)
7. Health Disparities, Intersectionality, and Linguistic Competency (5 mins)
8. Microaggressions, Patient-Centered Care, and Stereotypes (5 mins)

Section 2: Culturally Responsive Care (5 mins)

1. Cultural Safety (5 mins)

Section 3: Culture’s Impact on Health and Wellness (5 mins)

1. Culture Bound Syndromes (5 mins)

Section 4: Cultural Beliefs and Stigmas Impact Mental Health (10 mins)

1. Impact of cultural beliefs and stigmas (5 mins)
2. Strategies to Address Stigma (5 mins)

Section 5: Health Disparities (30 mins)

1. Explicit Bias Impact on Disparities (5 mins)
2. Implicit Bias Impact on Disparities (5 mins)
3. Legal Implications of Bias (5 mins)
4. Disparities in Healthcare and Recommendations (15 mins):
   1. General Recommendations (2 min)
   2. Legal, Regulatory, and Policy Interventions (3 mins)
   3. Health Systems Interventions (2 mins)
   4. Patient Education and Empowerment (2 min)
   5. Cross-Cultural Education in Health Professions (2 min)
   6. Data Collection and Monitoring (2 min)
   7. Research Needs (2 mins)

Section 6: Culturally Responsive Clinicians (5 mins)

1. Key responsibilities of culturally responsive clinicians (5 mins)

Section 7: Improving Culturally Responsive Care (20 mins)

1. Individual Level (10 mins):
   1. Training (2 mins)
   2. Professional Culture (2 mins)
   3. Research Awareness (2 mins)
   4. Implicit Association Test (2 mins)
   5. RESPECT Model (2 mins)
2. Organization Level (10 mins):
   1. Organizations & Cultural Safety (5 mins)
   2. Organizational and Systemic Cultural Competency (5 mins)

Section 8: Multicultural Ethical Competence (10 mins)

1. Multicultural ethical competence overview (5 mins)
2. Conscience Clause and Immigration/DACA (5 mins)

Conclusion (5 mins)

1. Recap of key points and closing remarks (5 mins)