Culturally Competent Commissioning; Meeting the Needs of Canada’s Diverse Communities: The Road Map to a Culturally Competent Mental Health System for All

Tiwalola Foluke Kolapo

doi:10.7870/cjcmh-2017-034

Culturally Competent Commissioning; Meeting the Needs of Canada’s Diverse Communities: The Road Map to a Culturally Competent Mental Health System for All

Canadian Journal of Community Mental Health ◽

10.7870/cjcmh-2017-034 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 36 (4) ◽

pp. 83-96

Author(s):

Tiwalola Foluke Kolapo

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Cultural Competence ◽

Good Practice ◽

Culturally Competent ◽

The Road ◽

Needs Assessments ◽

Road Map ◽

Healthcare Experiences ◽

Provision Of Care ◽

Dementia Services

Cultural competence has proven to be a very efficient tool in reducing healthcare disparities and improving healthcare experiences, compliance with therapy, and reducing incidents of misdiagnosis. This effect is because professionals are recognizing the value and significance of including the person in need of services in their assessment and decision making. While this rationale has also long been considered part of good practice among healthcare professionals (providers) within the mental health arena and nursing care and the success of its use has been reported widely in the provider and insurance arena, the notion seems to have escaped the commissioning arena. Commissioners are responsible for specifying, procuring, and monitoring services and are missing out on the value of completing culturally competent needs assessments for their localities. Synonymous with cultural competence is “person-centred care.” In recent times, cultural competence has contributed much to the commissioning of dementia services in a bid to improve and promote person-centred care. It could be argued that there is no person-centred care without cultural competence, which, in simplistic terms, can be defined as care that is undertaken in partnership with the recipient and is of value and significance to the recipient. Culturally competent commissioning and provision of care is therefore to be recommended as capable of addressing quality issues and the problematic variation in services available.

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Ethics in Transcultural Psychiatry

European Psychiatry ◽

10.1016/j.eurpsy.2017.01.217 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 41 (S1) ◽

pp. S51-S51

Author(s):

M. Schouler-Ocak

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Health Care ◽

Cultural Competence ◽

Mental Health Care ◽

Cultural Differences ◽

Minority Groups ◽

Transcultural Psychiatry ◽

Culturally Competent ◽

Cultural Backgrounds ◽

Competing Interest

Global migration and the increasing number of minority groups, including immigrants, asylum seekers, refugees and ethnic minorities, mean that increasingly, psychiatrists and patients may come from different cultural backgrounds. Therefore, cultural differences between patients and clinicians have become a matter of growing importance to mental health care as western societies have become increasingly diverse. This talk will attempt to illustrate how attention to these cultural differences enriches the discussion of ethics in mental health care. This talk will also attempt to underline that cultural competence is able to enhance the ethical treatment of mental health of patients from different cultural backgrounds. Consequently, to be culturally competent, a clinician must be sensitive, knowledgeable, and empathetic about cultural differences. Therefore, cultural competence is a concrete, practical expression of bioethics ideals. According to Hoop et al. in 2008, it is a practical, concrete demonstration of the ethical principles of respect for persons, beneficence (doing good), nonmaleficence (not doing harm), and justice (treating people fairly), the cornerstones of ethical codes for the health professions.In this talk the complex relationship between culture, values, and ethics in mental health care will be analyzed and discussed.Disclosure of interestThe author declares that he has no competing interest.

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Religious competence as cultural competence

Transcultural Psychiatry ◽

10.1177/1363461512439088 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 49 (2) ◽

pp. 245-260 ◽

Cited By ~ 35

Author(s):

Rob Whitley

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

African Americans ◽

Cultural Competence ◽

Psychiatric Services ◽

Psychiatric Practice ◽

Service Satisfaction ◽

Spiritual Needs ◽

Religion And Spirituality ◽

Culturally Competent ◽

Ambivalent Attitude

Definitions of cultural competence often refer to the need to be aware and attentive to the religious and spiritual needs and orientations of patients. However, the institution of psychiatry maintains an ambivalent attitude to the incorporation of religion and spirituality into psychiatric practice. This is despite the fact that many patients, especially those from underserved and underprivileged minority backgrounds, are devotedly religious and find much solace and support in their religiosity. I use the case of mental health of African Americans as an extended example to support the argument that psychiatric services must become more closely attuned to religious matters. I suggest ways in which this can be achieved. Attention to religion can aid in the development of culturally competent and accessible services, which in turn, may increase engagement and service satisfaction among religious populations.

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