Division of Social & Transcultural Psychiatry, McGill University
Advanced Study Institute in Cultural Psychiatry
Rethinking Cultural Competence from International Perspectives
Advanced Study Institute Workshop (April 27 & 28, 2010)
To register for the ASI, please use this form.
2010 ASI Registration [.pdf]
In recent years, cultural competence has become a popular term for strategies to address cultural diversity in mental health services. Alternative constructs that have been proposed include cultural safety, humility, sensitivity, responsiveness and appropriateness. Each of these metaphors draws attention to certain dimensions of intercultural work while downplaying or obscuring others. Each perspective is rooted in particular constructions of cultural identity and difference that have social origins. Approaches to cultural competence have been dominated by work in the U.S., which configures cultural difference in specific ways that reflect its history, demography, and politics. In New Zealand, cultural safety has been promoted as a term that draws attention to issues of power and vulnerability resulting from the history of colonization. Work in other countries has favored other models and metaphors to address diversity. This conference will bring together an international group of clinicians, researchers and educators to critically assess notions of cultural competence in clinical care at the individual, as well as collective levels of health care delivery. Sessions will be devoted to a conceptual analysis and critique of cultural competence, strategies for addressing cultural diversity in primary care, the relevance of culture in global mental health, the cultural adaptation of psychotherapy and other clinical and collective interventions, pedagogical approaches to professional training, and ways to improve the cultural responsiveness and appropriateness of clinical services and humanitarian interventions. The conference will conclude with a debate on the future of culture in mental health services.
The format will be a 2-day workshop (April 27 & 28) followed by a 3-day conference (April 29 - May 1) held in conjunction with the annual meeting of the Society for the Study of Psychiatry and Culture (SSPC). For information on the conference and registration see the website of the SSPC.
Workshop: Rethinking Cultural Competence, April 27-28, 2010
The workshop will focus on research issues and has limited enrolment.
Guest Faculty
Renato Alarcon, Rachid Bennegadi, James Boehnlein, Kamaldeep Bhui, Joseph Gone, Devon Hinton, Sushrut Jadhav, Roberto Lewis-Fernández, Robert Like, Francis Lu, Kwame McKenzie Richard Rechtman
McGill Faculty
Jaswant Guzder, G. Eric Jarvis, Laurence J. Kirmayer, Toby Measham, Lucie Nadeau, Duncan Pedersen, Cécile Rousseau, Ashley Wazana
Conference
Rethinking Cultural Competence from International Perspectives, April 29-May 1, 2010. Organized in collaboration with the Annual meeting of the Society for the Study of Psychiatry and Culture (SSPC). For registration information visit the SSPC website: www.psychiatryandculture.org
The SSPC meeting will be held at the newly remodeled Holiday Inn-Midtown, 420 Sherbrooke Street West, conveniently located across from the entrance to the McGill campus and near the Montreal Metro. As in the past, the registration fee will cover an opening reception, lunches on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, and two breaks per day on all three days. Hotel rates are $119/night, single or double occupancy, and include continental breakfast. The number of rooms is limited, so please register early. The hotel will also offer its discounted rate for workshop participants starting Sunday night (April 25, 2010).
The full Summer School Program is available in PDF.
The SSPC_2010_Program.pdf and the 2010 Summer School Brochure [.pdf] in Social and Cultural Psychiatry is available for download.