An Anti-Racist Approach to Achieving Mental Health Equity in Clinical Care

Rupinder Kaur Legha; Jeanne Miranda

doi:10.1016/j.psc.2020.05.002

An Anti-Racist Approach to Achieving Mental Health Equity in Clinical Care

Psychiatr Clin North Am. 2020 Sep;43(3):451-469. doi: 10.1016/j.psc.2020.05.002. Epub 2020 Jul 7.

Authors

Rupinder Kaur Legha¹, Jeanne Miranda²

Affiliations

¹ UCLA Center for Health Services and Society, 10920 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 300, Los Angeles, CA 90024, USA. Electronic address: rlegha@mednet.ucla.edu.
² Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, UCLA, UCLA's Center for Health Services and Society, 10920 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 300, Los Angeles, CA 90024, USA.

PMID: 32773074
DOI: 10.1016/j.psc.2020.05.002

Abstract

Racism is an important determinant of health and health disparities, but few strategies have been successful in eliminating racial discrimination from medical practice. This article proposes a novel antiracist approach to clinical care that acknowledges the racism shaping the clinical encounter and historical arc of racial oppression embedded in health care. Although preliminary, this approach can be easily implemented into clinical care and may reduce the harm done by racism. It could also serve as a template for antiracist service provision in other sectors, such as education and law enforcement.

Keywords: Antiracism; Health disparities; Implicit bias; Racism.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Health Equity*
Humans
Mental Disorders
Mental Health Services*
Racism*