Culturally Appropriate Services
In mental health and medicine, research indicates that culturally-appropriate services improve diagnostic accuracy, increases adherence to recommended treatment, improved health outcomes, and reduces inappropriate emergency room and psychiatric hospital use.
For the case manager, the ability to use the client’s culture as a resource to benefit the client will depend, in part, upon knowledge of one’ own culture, as well as knowledge of specific cultures and their histories, skills in cross-cultural and culturally-specific practices, and the ability to communicate effectively.
Case management clients come from many different cultural backgrounds. These may be significantly different than the background of the individual case manager. The case manager needs to assess the client’s cultural beliefs about self, family, health, mental health, values, disease, and recovery and healing.