Department of Medical Psychology, University Medical Centre Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany.
Clin Psychol Psychother. 2013 Sep-Oct;20(5):434-46. doi: 10.1002/cpp.1785. Epub 2012 Feb 28.
Mental healthcare services need to be sensitive towards the cultural needs of patients. Cross-cultural opening is an organizational process to fulfil these needs. This study aims to provide representative structural and procedural data regarding the use of German outpatient mental healthcare services by allochthonous patients, the diversity of psychotherapists in outpatient mental healthcare service, the cross-cultural encounters of therapists and the cross-cultural sensitivity of psychotherapists working in this healthcare area. Of all public outpatient psychotherapists in Hamburg, 81% (n = 485) participated in this survey. Regarding the distribution of the population in this metropolis, allochthonous therapists were underrepresented. Unlike the overall distribution of foreign inhabitants, the largest groups of immigrant therapists came from England, German-speaking countries and other countries within the European Union. The proportion of allochthonous patients in outpatient mental healthcare service was almost half of the proportion of the allochthonous in the general population. Psychotherapists with a migration background regarded themselves as having a higher level of cross-cultural sensitivity than their native colleagues, especially those who have had fewer cross-cultural encounters. Overall, psychotherapists named different challenges in providing cross-cultural treatment. For the German outpatient mental healthcare service to be more accessible to immigrants and their descendants, a greater number of bilingual psychotherapists must gain access to the mental healthcare service, and more advanced cross-cultural sensitivity training and supervision should be provided.
German outpatient psychotherapists are culturally and linguistically diverse. Nevertheless, psychotherapists with a migration background are underrepresented in outpatient mental healthcare services. Patients with a migration background are also underrepresented in the German outpatient mental healthcare system. Because mental healthcare services must be sensitive and respectful towards patients' cultural and linguistic needs, the mental healthcare outpatient service must be more accessible to therapists who speak languages other than German and English. Psychotherapeutic treatment of patients with a migration background can be tremendously challenging because of other cultures' differing value systems. Prospective, advanced training in cross-cultural sensitivity and cross-cultural supervision should be provided.
精神卫生保健服务需要对患者的文化需求敏感。跨文化开放是满足这些需求的组织过程。本研究旨在提供有关所有精神卫生保健服务的异族患者使用德国门诊精神卫生保健服务、门诊精神卫生保健服务中的精神治疗师的多样性、治疗师的跨文化相遇以及在该医疗保健领域工作的精神治疗师的跨文化敏感性的代表性结构和程序数据。在汉堡所有公共门诊精神治疗师中，81%（n=485）参与了这项调查。与大都市的人口分布相比，异族治疗师的代表性不足。与外国居民的总体分布不同，移民治疗师中最大的群体来自英国、德语国家和欧盟其他国家。门诊精神卫生保健服务中异族患者的比例几乎是异族在总人口中比例的一半。有移民背景的精神治疗师认为自己比他们的本地同事更具有跨文化敏感性，尤其是那些跨文化接触较少的同事。总体而言，精神治疗师在提供跨文化治疗方面遇到了不同的挑战。为了使德国门诊精神卫生保健服务更容易为移民及其后代使用，必须有更多的双语精神治疗师进入精神卫生保健服务，并且应该提供更先进的跨文化敏感性培训和监督。
德国门诊精神治疗师在文化和语言上具有多样性。尽管如此，门诊精神卫生保健服务中的移民背景治疗师人数仍然不足。具有移民背景的患者在德国门诊精神卫生保健系统中也人数不足。由于精神卫生保健服务必须对患者的文化和语言需求敏感和尊重，因此精神卫生保健门诊服务必须更便于讲德语和英语以外语言的治疗师使用。由于其他文化的价值观系统不同，治疗具有移民背景的患者可能极具挑战性。应该提供前瞻性的、先进的跨文化敏感性培训和跨文化监督。
