Becoming culturally competent in ethnic psychopharmacology.
People from minority backgrounds who have a mental illness experience double discrimination associated with both mental illness and race. In 2001, the Surgeon General's landmark report on race, culture, ethnicity, and mental health compellingly documented racial and ethnic disparities in mental heath care related to issues of misdiagnosis, underuse, overrepresentation, and improper treatment. The report called for sound research, including investigation into the area of psychopharmacology, to determine the extent to which the variability of an individual's response to medications is accounted for by factors related to race, ethnicity, age, gender, family history, or lifestyle. This article will focus on the realm of ethnic psychopharmacology and propose a practice model for nurses to become culturally competent in the area of ethnic psychopharmacology.
Campinha-Bacote
Josepha
J
Transcultural C.A.R.E. Associates, 11108 Huntwicke place, Cincinnati, OH 45241, USA. meddir@aol.com
D003071:Cognition; D054521:Cultural Competency; D005006:Ethnicity; D006801:Humans; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000188:drug therapy*; D011600:Psychopharmacology; D012938:Social Perception