Managing mental illness in patients from CALD backgrounds.
BACKGROUND
Australian general practitioners are often the first point of call for people seeking mental health care including those from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds, some of whom may be more at risk of having a mental illness but are failing to access the appropriate mental health care.


OBJECTIVE
This article is intended to assist GPs in the recognition, diagnosis and management of mental illness in patients from CALD backgrounds by providing current research evidence and presenting some practical recommendations. More attention is paid to the larger CALD populations such as the southern European and Asian communities, and does not deal with indigenous Australians.


CONCLUSIONS
There is an increasing call for GPs to have a key role in the detection, diagnosis and management of mental illness, including for patients from CALD backgrounds. Effective care requires that GPs are aware of, and understand how culture may influence recognition, diagnosis and management of mental illness in this group of patients.
Kiropoulos
Litza A
LA
Department of General Practice, Monash University, Victoria. litza.kiropoulos@med.monash.edu.au
Blashki
Grant
G
Klimidis
Steven
S
D001315:Australia; D018864:Cultural Diversity; D005194:Family Practice / Q000379:methods* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D007802:Language; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000628:therapy*; D010349:Patient Compliance; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D011619:Psychotropic Drugs / Q000627:therapeutic use; D012017:Referral and Consultation; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors
D011619:Psychotropic Drugs