Exploring Access to Mental Health Care (MHC) for Linguistically and Culturally Diverse (LACD) Patients
The rising prevalence of mental illness is a growing concern for European societies and access to mental health care is one of the top public health priorities. In addition, as more and more people migrate and settle or take refuge in countries (including Scotland) with a dominant language other than their own, the need for interpreting and/or cultural mediation in MHC settings is also on the increase.
The programme’s main aim was to bring together mental health practitioners, interpreters, health care administrators, policy makers and researchers in order to explore the most salient issues in the provision of mental health care to linguistically and culturally diverse patients, and the evidence base around cross-cultural communication in MHC settings, with the ultimate goal of enhancing the delivery of mental health care to Scottish residents who use a range of spoken and sign languages.
The objectives of the programme were the following:
- to ensure equal, fair and accurate access to MHC support for LACD patients, their families and carers;
- to inform the practice of MHC practitioners, in particular enabling them to use the full range of professional skills and strategies that their role entails;
- to inform the practice of interpreters or cultural mediators in MHC settings;
- to generate short and long-term shared goals among programme participants and produce a detailed research agenda for the future.