Poster Presentations (Group II)

The Mental Health HIV Services Collaborative (MHHSC) comprised 20 SAMHSA, CMHS grantees that provided mental health services to HIV+ clients in traditionally underserved communities (total = 1,500/year -- 50% African-American, 30% Hispanic/Latino(a), 17% White and 2% Native American).  These grantees endeavored to provide mental health services to their clients in a culturally competent manner.
Cultural competence is a critical aspect of mental health service provision.  This is particularly true when working with ethnically diverse, vulnerable, stigmatized and traumatized populations.   Cultural competence, however, is a very complex concept that often defies definitive categorization.  This means that even identifying and clearly articulating successful elements of culturally appropriate and supportive practices can be difficult – and is often not done at all.
To address this issue the MHHSC Coordinating Center sought to document and evaluate the grantees’ experiences related to cultural competence in mental health/HIV service provision (first phase 2001 – 2006).  Drawing upon the HRSA/Lewin Group’s report “Indicators of Cultural Competence in Health Care Delivery Organizations; An Organizational Cultural Competence Assessment Profile”, the Coordinating Center developed a method for documenting key elements of cultural competence across and within MHHSC programming.  The evaluation component employed a relational model to explore the linkages between key organizational elements and their influence on service provision.  Using this method it becomes possible to investigate the strengths and weaknesses within a organization, allowing corrective action to be taken.  This approach facilitated the Coordinating Center ability to document the development of cultural competence within the MHHSC program and provide training/technical assistance when needed.  The actual implementation of this framework is unique in the health and human service field where assessing cultural competence has proven to be extremely challenging. 
This training session will provide an overview of this evaluation approach and how it was implemented in the MHHSC program.  Concepts and terms expressed in the evaluation framework will also be discussed to provide clarity to the target audience.  Presenters will describe how the framework was applied across the 20 community-based organizations, how data was analyzed, and the practical lessons learned.  The session will also address how this approach facilitated the development and implementation of technical assistance designed to improve the capacity of grantees to address clinical, administrative, and evaluation issues related to cultural competence.  The presenters will also engage participants in a series of interactive group exercises designed to address specific organizational issues relevant to cultural competence, discuss strategies for monitoring/evaluating these issues, and expand participants understanding of what can be done in their own service environments. 
This session, the overview the framework, and its associated concepts will not be proscriptive.  Rather, it will serve as a starting point for discussing how the framework and its tools can be adapted for examining cultural competence in settings with which they are familiar.  The presenters will also share some of the tools and resources used to implement this unique evaluation with participants.  These materials will provide concrete insights into how this approach can be adapted to the participants’ service settings.