Presentation Information
[SY-47-01]Engaging Ethnic and Religious Communities through Cultural Consultation
*George Eric Jarvis (McGill University(Canada))
Keywords:
culture,religion,clinic,family,community
Background: The Cultural Consultation Service (CCS) in Montreal, Canada, has been conducting cultural assessments and interventions in mental health care for more than 25 years.
Objectives: This presentation will demonstrate how cultural consultation engages ethnic and religious communities at three levels: the clinic, the family, and the community.
Methods: The CCS case archives, with approximately 1100 in-depth consultations from 1999, will serve as the database from which illustrative cases will be drawn. The cases will be evaluated to describe how culture is woven into assessment and intervention at clinic, family, and community levels.
Results: Engaging clinics, families, and community leaders through cultural consultation provides a feasible and useful method to (1) improve confidence working with diversity (2) expand the clinical work beyond the clinician-patient dyad, (3) reflect on negotiated compromises between clinic and community cultures, and (4) resolve difficult clinical dilemmas in cross-cultural context. Each of these exemplifies the power of cultural consultation to improve clinical decision-making and patient outcomes.
Conclusions: Clinics, families, and communities are inextricably intertwined. Cultural consultation provides a method to work collaboratively, frame uncertainty, and co-construct culturally nuanced interventions.
Objectives: This presentation will demonstrate how cultural consultation engages ethnic and religious communities at three levels: the clinic, the family, and the community.
Methods: The CCS case archives, with approximately 1100 in-depth consultations from 1999, will serve as the database from which illustrative cases will be drawn. The cases will be evaluated to describe how culture is woven into assessment and intervention at clinic, family, and community levels.
Results: Engaging clinics, families, and community leaders through cultural consultation provides a feasible and useful method to (1) improve confidence working with diversity (2) expand the clinical work beyond the clinician-patient dyad, (3) reflect on negotiated compromises between clinic and community cultures, and (4) resolve difficult clinical dilemmas in cross-cultural context. Each of these exemplifies the power of cultural consultation to improve clinical decision-making and patient outcomes.
Conclusions: Clinics, families, and communities are inextricably intertwined. Cultural consultation provides a method to work collaboratively, frame uncertainty, and co-construct culturally nuanced interventions.