Providing Culturally Responsive Care to Asian Immigrants
Course #71943 -
- Participation Instructions
- Review the course material online or in print.
- Complete the course evaluation.
- Review your Transcript to view and print your Certificate of Completion. Your date of completion will be the date (Pacific Time) the course was electronically submitted for credit, with no exceptions. Partial credit is not available.
As the United States is becoming increasingly multicultural, and with the Asian American and immigrant population increasing at a phenomenal rate, practitioners will inevitably confront racially, ethnically, and culturally different clients in their clinical practice. Given these key demographic trends, definitions of cultural competence and what this concept entails will be discussed. Because part of cultural competence involves knowledge of immigrant groups, this course will provide background information of the demographic profiles, immigration histories, and cultural belief and value systems of various Asian immigrant groups in the United States. Acculturative stress and psychosocial issues pertaining to the adjustment process for immigrants will also be explored. The role of culture in influencing the construction of mental illness, health and illness concepts, barriers to help-seeking, the informed consent process and cultural communication will be presented. Finally, practice implications will be examined, and a listing of resources for practitioners will be provided in order for practitioners to continue building their knowledge bases in the area of cultural competence and sensitivity when working with Asian immigrants.
- INTRODUCTION
- ETHNIC MINORITY POPULATIONS IN THE UNITED STATES
- MULTICULTURAL COUNSELING AND CULTURAL COMPETENCE IN PSYCHOLOGY, SOCIAL WORK, AND THE COUNSELING FIELDS
- OVERVIEW OF KEY CONCEPTS
- DEMOGRAPHIC LANDSCAPE: ASIAN AMERICANS AND IMMIGRANTS IN THE UNITED STATES
- ASIAN IMMIGRANT SUBGROUPS: DIVERSITY IN IMMIGRATION HISTORY
- MENTAL HEALTH AND PSYCHOSOCIAL ISSUES IN THE ASIAN AMERICAN AND IMMIGRANT COMMUNITY
- HEALTH ISSUES IN THE ASIAN AMERICAN AND IMMIGRANT COMMUNITIES
- CULTURALLY SENSITIVE PRACTICE ISSUES
- INTERPROFESSIONAL COLLABORATION AND CULTURAL COMPETENCY
- CONCLUSION
- RESOURCES
- Works Cited
- Evidence-Based Practice Recommendations Citations
This course is designed for social workers, therapists, mental health counselors, and other members of the interdisciplinary team who work with immigrants, particularly Asian immigrants.
The purpose of this course is to expand the level of awareness and knowledge base of practitioners in providing culturally relevant, sensitive, and responsive mental health and health services to immigrant populations, specifically Asian immigrants in the United States.
Upon completion of this course, you should be able to:
- Describe the demographic shifts and factors that have influenced the need for culturally competent health and mental health services.
- Discuss some of the historical forces that impacted the helping fields in moving toward the examination of culture and diversity.
- Define the terms culture, race, ethnicity, assimilation, and acculturation.
- Discuss the major immigration histories and demographic characteristics of Asian American immigrants.
- Describe the prevalence or scope of different types of psychiatric disorders in the Asian immigrant community.
- Discuss how culture influences concepts of mental illness and beliefs about the causes of mental illness.
- Identify factors that play a role in the process of Asian immigrants' help-seeking decisions.
- Describe various healthcare needs in the Asian immigrant community.
- Discuss the role of culture in affecting health beliefs and practices among Asian immigrants.
- Identify components of culturally sensitive communication skills.
- List characteristics of culturally sensitive assessment.
- Discuss cultural factors that affect the informed consent process with Asian immigrants.
- Discuss guidelines in working with interpreters and interprofessional collaboration.
Alice Yick Flanagan, PhD, MSW, received her Master’s in Social Work from Columbia University, School of Social Work. She has clinical experience in mental health in correctional settings, psychiatric hospitals, and community health centers. In 1997, she received her PhD from UCLA, School of Public Policy and Social Research. Dr. Yick Flanagan completed a year-long post-doctoral fellowship at Hunter College, School of Social Work in 1999. In that year she taught the course Research Methods and Violence Against Women to Masters degree students, as well as conducting qualitative research studies on death and dying in Chinese American families.
Previously acting as a faculty member at Capella University and Northcentral University, Dr. Yick Flanagan is currently a contributing faculty member at Walden University, School of Social Work, and a dissertation chair at Grand Canyon University, College of Doctoral Studies, working with Industrial Organizational Psychology doctoral students. She also serves as a consultant/subject matter expert for the New York City Board of Education and publishing companies for online curriculum development, developing practice MCAT questions in the area of psychology and sociology. Her research focus is on the area of culture and mental health in ethnic minority communities.
Contributing faculty, Alice Yick Flanagan, PhD, MSW, has disclosed no relevant financial relationship with any product manufacturer or service provider mentioned.
James Trent, PhD
The division planner has disclosed no relevant financial relationship with any product manufacturer or service provider mentioned.
Sarah Campbell
The Director of Development and Academic Affairs has disclosed no relevant financial relationship with any product manufacturer or service provider mentioned.
The purpose of NetCE is to provide challenging curricula to assist healthcare professionals to raise their levels of expertise while fulfilling their continuing education requirements, thereby improving the quality of healthcare.
Our contributing faculty members have taken care to ensure that the information and recommendations are accurate and compatible with the standards generally accepted at the time of publication. The publisher disclaims any liability, loss or damage incurred as a consequence, directly or indirectly, of the use and application of any of the contents. Participants are cautioned about the potential risk of using limited knowledge when integrating new techniques into practice.
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The role of implicit biases on healthcare outcomes has become a concern, as there is some evidence that implicit biases contribute to health disparities, professionals' attitudes toward and interactions with patients, quality of care, diagnoses, and treatment decisions. This may produce differences in help-seeking, diagnoses, and ultimately treatments and interventions. Implicit biases may also unwittingly produce professional behaviors, attitudes, and interactions that reduce patients' trust and comfort with their provider, leading to earlier termination of visits and/or reduced adherence and follow-up. Disadvantaged groups are marginalized in the healthcare system and vulnerable on multiple levels; health professionals' implicit biases can further exacerbate these existing disadvantages.
Interventions or strategies designed to reduce implicit bias may be categorized as change-based or control-based. Change-based interventions focus on reducing or changing cognitive associations underlying implicit biases. These interventions might include challenging stereotypes. Conversely, control-based interventions involve reducing the effects of the implicit bias on the individual's behaviors. These strategies include increasing awareness of biased thoughts and responses. The two types of interventions are not mutually exclusive and may be used synergistically.