Enhancing Mental Healthcare – The Role of Cultural Competence and Evidence-Based Screening at Palms Medical Group

Hello Sita,

This is an excellent post. You have responded well to the discussion questions. Indeed, your clinical practice at Palms Medical Group provides you with an opportunity to serve a diverse population of both age and race/ethnicity. In such a setting, one must develop intercultural competence and humility. Being culturally competent means possessing the right skills in terms of behavior, cognition, attitude, and language, while having cultural humility means reflecting on the biases of one’s cultural views and how they affect how one relates with others. Both support effective communication with diverse patient populations. Cultural competence and cultural humility are essential in mental healthcare as they help develop collaborative mutual partnerships, leading to the delivery of patient-centered care with positive client and provider experiences and outcomes (Stubbe, 2020).

Further, you have noted that you utilize the PHQ-9 and GAD-7 as your preferred screening tools for mental health in your facility. I believe this is the reason the quality of mental health care delivered within the facility is considered high quality. The delivery of quality care starts with the use of evidence-based screening techniques. Accordingly, both the PHQ-9 and GAD-7 screening tools have been thoroughly tested and validated and found to be effective in the diagnosis of various mental health issues such as posttraumatic stress disorder, depression, and generalized anxiety (Ahmadi et al., 2023). As you have noted, early screening allows for early treatment. However, screening opportunities may be missed, especially among vulnerable populations. Your recommendations, such as partnering with other institutions such as the local University of Florida, can help in providing free mental health services and even educating the population on mental health care and available services and resources for the community.

 References

Ahmadi, A., Galusha, J. M., Ponder, W. N., Carbajal, J., Schuman, D. L., Whitworth, J., & Yockey, R. A. (2023). Validation of the PCL-5, PHQ-9, and GAD-7 in a sample of first responders. Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 65(6), 467–476. https://doi.org/10.1097/JOM.0000000000002823

Stubbe, D. E. (2020). Practicing cultural competence and cultural humility in the care of diverse patients. Focus, 18(1), 49–51. https://doi.org/10.1176/APPI.FOCUS.20190041