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Session Title: Evaluating the Cultural Competence of Substance abuse and Mental Health Services: Policy, Technology, and Practice

Panel Session 365 to be held in Royale Conference Foyer on Thursday, November 8, 11:15 AM to 12:45 PM

Sponsored by the Alcohol, Drug Abuse, and Mental Health TIG

Chair(s):

James payday loan  Herrell payday loan ,  United States Department of Health and Human Services,  jim.herrell@samhsa.hhs.gov

Abstract: Although cultural competence is widely considered essential to the delivery of effective substance abuse and mental health services, empirical support for this belief is modest, limited in part by inconsistent definitions of the concept and the lack of tested approaches to measuring cultural competence. This panel will describe advances in operationalizing and evaluating organizational and individual cultural competence, and linking it to client outcomes. Panelists will present key findings from the literature, discuss the emphasis of one federal agency, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAHMSA), on culturally competent service delivery, describe advances in technologies for defining and evaluating cultural competence cross-sectionally and longitudinally, and discuss the evaluation of a culturally adapted evidence-based practice employed by a SAMHSA grantee. Panelists will engage the audience in a discussion of using the evaluation of cultural competence to improve services (and maybe even to increase chances of receiving grants).

Perspectives on the Evaluation of Cultural Competence in Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services James payday loan  Herrell payday loan ,  United States Department of Health and Human Services,  jim.herrell@samhsa.hhs.gov Although it is axiomatic that cultural competence is essential to the provision of effective mental health and substance abuse treatment services, defining and measuring cultural competence, and evaluating its contribution to treatment outcomes, have not kept pace with philosophizing about the concept. Competent evaluations of cultural competence and of culturally informed treatment approaches can guide policy, improve services, and - not trivially - contribute to the development of grant applications. The three components of this presentation are: 1) A brief review of recent literature on the association between factors often assumed to contribute to cultural competence and client outcomes; 2) a description of selected approaches to assessing cultural competence at the organizational and individual levels; and 3) a discussion of the conceptualization of cultural competence by the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), as reflected in its funding announcements, and the evaluation implications of that conceptualization.

An Operational Framework for Bridging Cultural Competency Evaluation Policy and Practice Ramón (Ray) payday loan  Valle payday loan ,  San Diego State University,  rvalle@mail.sdsu.edu The Cultural Competency Organizational Assessment Form (CCOAF) provides a framework for evaluating cultural competency [CC] from both an organizational policy and practice standpoint. It can serve as CC self-assessment tool for the organization. It can likewise be used to assess CC knowledge and skills at the practitioner performance outcomes level. Additionally, the CCOAF can also be employed in whole or in part depending on the evaluator's objectives. The instrument emerges from direct observations of both organizations and practitioners engaged in cross-cultural service delivery, where it has been tested. The framework readily accommodates both quantitative and qualitative data collection and analysis. One of the instrument's particular strengths in its application is that it permits the separating of cultural factors (e.g., preferred language or cultural norms and customs), and socioeconomic status circumstances (e.g., literacy, or poverty). The CCOAF also provides a bridge between CC evaluation policy and direct practice.

Developing and Evaluating Culturally Adaptive Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Gregory payday loan  Archer payday loan ,  Archer, Searfoss and Associates Inc,  gregarcher@msn.com In 2006, Valle del Sol (VdS) in Phoenix, Arizona received a second SAMHSA Targeted Capacity Expansion grant to increase prevention services and to develop culturally sensitive psychotherapy techniques for Latino seniors. The evaluator of the VdS Tiempo de Oro (TdO) program will discuss the evaluation techniques of the prevention services and initial process evaluation efforts to adapt standard Cognitive Behavioral Therapy into Culturally Adaptive Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CACBT). The evaluator will discuss the goals, evaluation process, and general outcomes during the adaptation of CACBT. In addition, some of the more interesting principles and practical cultural applications will be presented. The ongoing TdO Prevention and CACBT project, and its evaluation, have had to contend with multiple challenges including serving monolingual Spanish speakers, low literacy rates, participants being 60 years or older, high rates of physical illness, limited mobility and community mistrust related to discrimination and immigration.