Cultural Competence in Emergency Psychiatry

Abstract

The evaluation and management of culturally diverse patients in the emergency setting require unique approaches and expertise while working under time constraints. Psychiatric evaluation and treatment are greatly influenced by the culture of both patient and clinician. Patients have perspectives about their illness, its origin and plausible remedy that often differ from the clinician’s perspective. Ethnocultural variations in medication metabolism also affect treatment outcomes across cultures. The culturally competent emergency clinician will employ knowledge of these factors to maximize patient outcomes. Given psychiatric emergency services’ unique set of cultural challenges, it is imperative for the psychiatric emergency clinician to be culturally competent to become fully clinically competent.