Robert Lee Sutherland Seminar XIV

Transforming Mental Health Services in Texas: Building Bridges between Cultural Competence and Evidence-Based Practices

With a growing call for mental health providers to use evidence-based practices, the question has arisen, "evidence-based for whom?" Little research on evidence-based practices such as cognitive-behavioral therapy has been conducted with populations of color. Although there are preliminary data to suggest that these practices can be effective for populations of color, less is known about how to modify the treatments to make them consistent with the cultures of diverse populations.

To explore these questions, the Hogg Foundation hosted "Transforming Mental Health Services in Texas: Building Bridges between Cultural Competence and Evidence-Based Practices" in Houston on Nov. 30 and Dec. 1, 2006. The conference provided a wealth of information and perspectives on the cultural adaptation of evidence-based practices.

The seminar's theme grew out of the foundation's new cultural adaptation initiative. Cultural adaptation is the process of adjusting the delivery of mental health services to be consistent with the client's culture. Through the initiative, the foundation is promoting the development of culturally adapted evidence-based practices. The foundation's goals for the initiative are to generate knowledge about culturally competent delivery of evidence-based practices and, ultimately, to increase the availability of effective mental health services for people of color.

Conference Presentations and Materials

Agenda

Cultural Competence and Evidence-Based Practices: Current State of Knowledge and Practice

Exemplary Programs in the Community Using Culturally Competent and/or Evidence-based Approaches:

Asian American Family Services

Guadalupe Valley Family Violence Shelter

Community Family Centers

Developing Evidence-Based and Culturally Competent Care

Assessment and Treatment

Development of TEMAS as Multicultural Test

Cultural Issues in the Assessment and Treatment of Anxiety: Adapting Evidence-Based Practices

Assessing Cultural Perspectives and Experiences Relevant to the Treatment of African American Clients

Minority Inclusion in Psychiatric Research