I am a mental health nurse working on an acute care unit at the Capital Health District in Halifax, Nova Scotia and also a member of the International Division of the Mental Health Program of the Department of Psychiatry. I have always felt it to be important that nurses in general have a concept of cultural issues and more importantly that mental health care providers (i.e. nurses, psychiatrists, social workers, occupational therapists, etc.) be educated in transcultural belief systems. I found Frank McGovern's question quite relevant as it is a question that we are faced with quite frequently. My colleague Dr. Brett Broster and myself have been asked to co-chair a commitee to look at developing an appropriate and clinically revelant curriculum for clinicians in the Mental Health Program and Department of Psychiatry and for exploring the issue of culture sensitivity training. I would appreciate any direction as the where to find education modules to assist us in developing this program.

Respectfully submitted, Marie-Claire Arseneau R.N.B.A.

-- Marie-Claire Arseneau (mcarseneau@ns.sympatico.ca), January 28, 2004

Answers

Marie-Claire, You might want to try the following … hope this leads you in the right direction.

Ministry for Children and Families - Cultural Competency Assessment Tool - http://www.cf.gov.bc.ca/publications/cultural_competency/assessment_to ol/tool_index1.htm

MMHA - multicult mentalhealth http://www.mmha.org.au/

MEL_ Multi-Cultural Health - http://mel.lib.mi.us./cgi-bin/print_hit_bold.pl/health/health- multicultural.html

-- Victor F. (victor@culturediversity.org), February 03, 2004.