Description
Cultural competence is an important and necessary condition of evidence-based practice in psychology, and, as such, EBPP can be a great catalyst for addressing ethnic and racial disparities in mental health treatment and services. The major problem involves the lack of specific strategies to guide research on developing adaptations to treatments that may be more culturally syntonic for ethnic minority clients. Based on a review of the available research on EBPPs and treatment-relevant cultural variations, specific research strategies are presented that can enhance cultural competence in treatment and assessment.
Learning Objectives:
- Understand the challenges in conducting research that address cultural issues in treatment.
- Identify important domains of cultural variations that may affect a client’s response to many evidence- based treatments.
- Present specific research strategies that may prove productive for enhancing cultural competence in evidence-based treatments and assessments.
About the speaker:
Nolan Zane, Ph.D., is Professor of Psychology and Asian American Studies at the University of California, Davis, Director of the Asian American Center on Disparities Research, and Chair of the Department of Asian American Studies. The center is an advanced research center (P50 grant) funded by the National Institute of Mental Health and is the only national center that focuses on the mental health issues of Asian American populations and communities.
Professor Zane received his bachelor's degree from Stanford University and his doctorate in clinical psychology from the University of Washington. His research focuses on the development and evaluation of culturally based sociobehavioral interventions for ethnic minority clientele, ethnocultural moderators of change in psychotherapy, and the determinants of addictive behaviors among Asian Americans. He has authored numerous articles on Asian American mental health treatment and services, cultural differences in intra- and interpersonal dynamics (e.g., self-consciousness, assertion), and addictive behavior patterns in Asian communities. He also has co-edited books on Asian American health issues (Confronting Critical Health Issues of Asian and Pacific Islander Americans) and on the psychology of Asian Americans (Handbook of Asian American Psychology and Reading in Asian American Psychology).
As the Principal Investigator or Co-Principal Investigator, he has been awarded research or evaluation grants totaling over $13 million in direct costs. Professor Zane is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association, served as President of Asian American Psychological Association, and received the Distinguished Contribution Award from the Asian American Psychological Association. He has served as a consultant or grant reviewer of research for culturally-diverse populations for numerous organizations and research institutes including the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the National Institute of Mental Health, the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention, and the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research.
He also chaired the Department of Asian American Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara. In recognition of his work on cultural issues in treatment, he was appointed to the American Psychological Association Presidential Task Force on Evidence- based Psychological Practice. His current work examines cultural differences in the role of loss of face and shame in interpersonal relationships with a special focus on client and care provider interactions.
