CHAPTER 7

A Vision for the Future

Support Capacity Development

Minorities are underrepresented among mental health providers, researchers, administrators, policymakers, and consumer and family organizations. Furthermore, many providers and researchers of all backgrounds are not fully aware of the impact of culture on mental health, mental illness, and mental health services. All mental health professionals are encouraged to develop their understanding of the roles of age, gender, race, ethnicity, and culture in research and treatment. Therefore, mental health training programs and funding sources that work toward equitable representation and a culturally informed training curriculum will contribute to reducing disparities.

Train Mental Health Professionals

Racial and ethnic minorities continue to be badly under-represented, relative to their proportion of the U.S. population, within the core mental health professions — psychiatry, psychology, social work, counseling, and psychiatric nursing. Although it is certainly not the case that only minorities can understand or treat persons of like race or cultural background, minority providers treat a higher proportion of minority patients than do white providers. There is also evidence that ethnic match between provider and client encourages consumers to enter and stay in treatment.

The ability to reduce health disparities through the research proposed in the NIH 2001 Health Disparities Plan requires a strong commitment to training and sup-porting investigators in this area. Not only are there disparities in the number of studies that analyze their findings by race or ethnicity, but there are also disparities in the number of racial and ethnic minority investigators applying for and receiving grants to pursue mental health research.

Without concerted efforts by policymakers, educational institutions, and senior researchers, the shortage of providers and researchers equipped to address the needs of minority populations will contribute to the disproportionate burden of mental illness on racial and ethnic minorities. Programs that encourage students who are committed to serving racial and ethnic minority communities to enter the field of mental health will help to reduce the mismatch between needs and capacity. Furthermore, it is important that professional training programs include curricula that address the impact of culture, race, and ethnicity on mental health, mental illness, and mental health services. Hence, there is a need to encourage targeted Federal training or grant programs, educational programs for high school, college, and graduate students, outreach by graduate and professional schools, and continuing education by accrediting professional organizations.

Encourage Consumer and Family Leadership

Whereas the movement to give voice and leadership to the recipients of mental health services — consumers and family members — has been growing rapidly over the past 20 years, racial and ethnic minorities continue to be underrepresented in this arena. Although there have been recent Federal, State and local efforts to develop net-works and leadership among minority consumers and families, concerted efforts are needed to give voices to these relatively unheard stakeholders of the mental health system.