Synthesizing culture and power in community mental health: An emerging framework

Abstract

Mental health services in western English-speaking countries are struggling to respond to growing cultural and racial diversity. The overall purpose of the Community University Research Alliance (CURA) study was to explore, develop, pilot, and evaluate how best to provide community-based mental health supports that are effective for people from culturally diverse backgrounds. Using a participatory action research approach within a multimethod design, the study partnership has developed an emerging famework that synthesizes the ideals of previous culture-oriented and power-oriented models. The emerging framework has 3 main components: values that guide concrete actions that in turn produce desired outcomes. Central to the emerging framework is the need for reciprocal collaboration between the mental health system and cultural-linguistic communities.