Working with migrants and refugees - why do we need cultural competence?

With increasing globalization and movement of people across national boundaries due to more frequent conflicts and disasters, it is important for service providers to become aware of the various needs of the patients they look after. This implies that psychiatrists and patients are more likely than ever to come from different cultural backgrounds. The inclusion of cultural competence into psychiatric-psychotherapeutic training and practice is therefore a matter of growing relevance. It is inevitable that patients will present to clinical settings with diverse clinical needs, and it must be kept in mind that immigrants and refugees are a heterogeneous group in a number of ways. Cultural competency represents good clinical practice with the goal that all patients, especially those from migration and refugee groups, feel acknowledged and supported. Similarly, when minority clinicians are not aware of the majority culture, conflicts may arise. Cultural competency focuses on skills that a clinician can employ to understand the cultural values, attitudes, and behaviors of patients, especially those whose cultural background differs from that of the mental health professional. Cultural competency does not require that the clinician learn the language or adopt the cultural values of a patient, but rather it involves respecting differences and making sure that these are bridgeable so that they do not negatively impact upon the diagnostic and therapeutic process.

In this webinar, we will focus on cultural competence and discuss why it is needed in working with migrant and refugee patients.