Cross-cultural training in mental health care – challenges and experiences from Sweden and Germany

Abstract

Globalization and cultural diversity challenge mental health care in Europe. Sensitivity to culture in mental health care benefits effective delivery of care to the individual patient and can be a contribution to the larger project of building a tolerant multicultural society. Pivotal for improving cultural sensitivity in mental health care is knowledge in cross-cultural psychiatry, psychology, nursing and related fields among professionals and accordingly training of students and mental health professionals. This paper will give an overview, and a critical examination, of current conceptualisation of cross-cultural mental health training. From German and Swedish experiences the need for crosscultural training and clinical research on evaluation will be presented.

Providing mental healthcare to immigrants

“…Immigrants often have specific needs and treatment preferences [9,10]. Good practice recommendations have emphasized the need for organizational flexibility, provision of good professional interpreting services, raising cultural awareness of staff, delivery of psychoeducational programs, collaboration with families, communities and social services, building positive and stable relationships with patients, and clear guidelines on care entitlements of migrants [1,9,11,12]. Sound research evidence on how mental healthcare should be delivered to benefit immigrants is still scarce.…”

Cross‐Cultural Opening in German Outpatient Mental Healthcare Service: An Exploratory Study of Structural and Procedural Aspects

“…The Bologna Process will prospectively lead to a more diverse student body (Patricio & Harden, 2010) and together with other political initiatives (BPtK, 2011) later to a more culturally and linguistically diverse mental healthcare service. Beyond that, interpreter services should be structurally and financially implemented in the mental healthcare service, like it is offered in Sweden (Bäärnhielm & Mösko, 2012). In order to overcome barriers on the part of migrants, linguistically and culturally sensitive information and prevention campaigns should be offered.…”

Clinical approaches to cultural diversity in mental health care and specificities of French transcultural consultations: A narrative review.

“…The patient's culture and various attachments are thus an integral part of the process of therapy. In this sense, the French transcultural approach is radically different from the models proposing to adapt the standard framework of care by training professionals in cultural competence (5,13,16,19,22,23,31,(51)(52)(53) or via integration through using interpreters or cultural mediators (35,38,54).…”

“…Nonetheless no government policies have sought to improve the access of migrant families to mental health care. Italy, Germany, and Spain have set up teams aimed at providing transcultural training for mental health professionals (7,15,39,40). Italy has several transcultural care teams in departments of psychiatry and child psychiatry; not only do they offer consultation-liaison services, but they can conduct psychosocial and psychotherapeutic interventions in the most complex cases (7,15).…”