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The WFMH Center for
Transcultural Mental Health was established in December 2006 as
an ongoing program within the WFMH Secretariat. The Center
focuses attention on issues related to the increasingly
multi-cultural aspects of mental health awareness, service
delivery, and the need for developing culturally responsive
systems of mental health services in countries and communities
around the world. The establishment and development of the WFMH
Center for Transcultural Mental Health was made possible through
a grant from Eli Lilly and Company and Boehringer Ingelheim.
Among the
key issues concerning the “role of culture in mental health”
that is the focus of the WFMH Center for Transcultural
Mental Health are:
1) The role
that cultural orientation plays in how mental health
professionals think about Depression and its associated
disorders, recognize its symptoms, accurately diagnose, and
effectively treat it in patients that may have a different
cultural orientation
2) The role
that culture plays in how individuals, family members, and
communities perceive and respond to symptoms of depression --
how and where they seek help or treatment in dealing with
symptoms of depression
3) The role
that culture plays in the interaction of mental health
professionals with patients from a different culture --- how do
these different cultural perspectives play out in the community-
or institutional- based treatment settings.
4) The role
that cultural perspective about mental health and mental
disorders plays in the general workforce (business and
industry), particularly within employee assistance programs,
medical and family leave policies, health insurance coverage,
etc.)
The 2007 World Mental Health
Day packet on the theme of Mental Health in a Changing World,
the Impact of Culture and Diversity relates to the focus of this
Center.
It can be accessed here.
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