ABSTRACT
This chapter describes a community mental health program that developed an innovative culturally sensitive model of mental health delivery to ethnic minority populations, recognizing and tapping community resources for strengths and supports. It indicates how the program then generated training for mental health professionals and other human service providers in culturally appropriate service delivery, and produced research data demonstrating the efficacy of the service model and the cost-benefit of cross-cultural training. The chapter proposes some generalized guidelines for academic training programs and for mental health service providers that may facilitate the delivery of culturally sensitive and effective care for racial or ethnic minority populations. By and large, the treatments offered by the mental health service delivery system rest on chemotherapy and psychotherapy and only recently have begun to focus on rehabilitation skills for deinstitutionalized patients. Treatment plans may thus aim toward the enhancement of coping capabilities through the development and utilization of adaptive community resources.
