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Abstract
Social determinants of health, such as poverty, lower parental education, parental unemployment, and racism, are critical but often overlooked factors that contribute to racial inequities in mental health. The effects of social determinants on mental health persist despite positive intentions of individual professionals within psychology. A new approach is required to address mental health inequities by training psychologists to understand how power, privilege, and oppression relate to racial disparities in mental health. Currently, many psychology training programs do not provide instruction related to the social determinants of mental health. We advocate for a shift in the paradigm of psychology training programs to prepare psychologists to address social determinants of mental health. We present 2 approaches to support this shift in psychology training programs—cultural humility and community-based participatory research—and describe concrete examples of how these approaches can facilitate psychologists’ active involvement in disrupting mental health inequities.
Graduate training programs can prepare psychologists to reduce the prevalence of mental health disparities by incorporating strategies to address social determinants of mental health. Specifically, this article advocates for training psychologists in cultural humility and community-based participatory research and provides a few examples and recommendations for implementation.
Mental health problems are experienced by people of all ages, races, and cultures and pose a significant burden to both individuals and society. According to the 1999 Surgeon General’s report on mental health, mental health disorders are the second leading cause of disability and premature mortality (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services [USDHHS], 1999). Moreover, a supplement to the Surgeon General’s report also indicated there are substantial racial disparities in mental health disorders (USDHHS, 2001). Mental health disparities are a complex public health problem that includes disparities in risk factors for mental health disorders, as well as disparities in access, quality, and outcomes of mental health care (Gómez, 2015; Safran et al., 2009; Snowden & Yamada, 2005; Whaley, 2001). Unfortunately, subsequent studies have found little improvement in these racial...