Track 2-2c
Clinical

Clinical Cultural Competence in Mental Health: DSM-IV and Practice Guidelines

This presentation will review recent important innovations that are useful clinical tools for cultural competence in mental health. The American Psychiatric Association DSM-IV (1994) created an Outline for Cultural Formulation; a Glossary of Culture-Bound Syndromes; and an Age, Gender and Cultural Considerations section in the narrative description of 90 diagnostic categories. The Outline for Cultural Formulation included the cultural identity of the individual, the cultural explanations of illness, the cultural supports / stressors, the cultural elements of the relationship between the clinician and the individual, and the overall assessment for diagnostic and treatment planning. The American Psychiatric Association Practice Guideline for the Psychiatric Evaluation of Adults (1995) reinforced the importance of sociocultural considerations in assessment and diagnosis. Other guidelines from the American Psychological Association and the American Counseling Association will also be briefly reviewed.

Francis G. Lu, MD
Clinical Professor of Psychiatry
Department of Psychiatry
University of California, San Francisco
San Francisco General Hospital
1001 Potrero Avenue, Suite 7M
San Francisco, CA 94110
Phone: 415-206-8984
Fax : 415-206-8942
Francis_Lu@sfgh.org

Francis G. Lu, MD, is Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at the University of California, San Francisco and Director of the Cultural Competence and Diversity Program in the Department of Psychiatry at San Francisco General Hospital, where he has worked for 21 years. In 1980, he established the first Asian Focus Psychiatric Inpatient Program in the country, which led to the development of five other focus programs caring for Black, Latino, women, gay/lesbian and HIV/AIDS patients; they were awarded a Certificate of Significant Achievement by the American Psychiatric Association in 1987. He has published and presented widely on clinical/systems cultural competence in mental health, psychiatric education, the interface between psychiatry and religion/spirituality, and the use of films/video to teach about cultural and transpersonal issues. He is a Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association and a member of the Group for the Advancement of Psychiatry Cultural Psychiatry Committee. NEXT >

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