Training Title:
Culture Counts: The Influence of Culture and Society on Mental Health

Clock Hours: 2

Objectives:
After completing this course, participants should be able to: • Identify various beliefs and behaviors that culture may impact regarding mental illness • Recall factors experienced by minority populations that may contribute to the development of mental illness • Expand awareness of what one might explore when evaluating the impact of culture on an individual’s presenting problems.

Description:
This course documents the existence of striking disparities for minorities in mental health services and the underlying knowledge base. To better understand what happens inside the clinical setting, this chapter looks outside to reveal the diverse effects of culture and society on mental health, mental illness, and mental health services. This understanding is key in developing mental health services that are more responsive to the cultural and social contexts of racial and ethnic minorities. Keywords: Culture, race, ethnicity, society, minorities, minority, white, black, Asian, Hawaiian, Pacific Islander, native, Indian, mental health, disparity, diversity, poverty, context, immigrant, immigration, surgeon general

Approval Bodies