Good morning everyone. Welcome, welcome. My name is Madonna Delfish and I am a senior program manager here at the APA's Division of Diversity and Health Equity. I will be your mistress of ceremonies today. You can consider me a less cooler tour guide without the microphone and the funny hat, okay? All right, so before we dive into the business of today, let's cover a few logistical issues to help us get settled and oriented with space. Restrooms are located down this corridor if you up in the front and then you can go out these double doors in the back and it's the brown doors next to the elevator. If you are, if you need a room for lactation, we have a lactation room available so if you need it, please let me know or one of my team members. Team, can you raise your hand? All right, so one of us will take you down to the lactation room if you need it. Let's see, Wi-Fi username and password is located on the wall. Username is 800 Main Roof and the password is 800 Main Guests. So you can walk around and look for those little black plaques to log into your devices. All right, so now that we've gotten the housekeeping bit out of the way, it's my pleasure to introduce Dr. Regina James who will formally welcome you to this important convening. Dr. James is Deputy Medical Director and Chief of the Division of Diversity and Health Equity at the American Psychiatric Association. She's part of the C-Suite team ensuring diversity and mental health equity are integral to the organization's mission. She's a child and adolescent psychiatrist with over 25 years of experience and has led national and international health disparity programs for children and families. Dr. James completed an NIH fellowship at NIMH conducting clinical trials in ADHD and behavioral disorders and received the Riger Award for Scientific Achievement. She earned both her Bachelor's of Science in Psychology and Biology and her MD from the University of California, Los Angeles. She completed her residency in General Psychiatry and a fellowship in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation in Leadership and Training and a Leadership and Training Fellowship at the Harvard Kennedy School Executive Education Program. Dr. James has lectured and published on health and health care disparities, reinforcing her commitment to advancing equity and excellence in mental health and health care. Please join me in welcoming Dr. James to the podium. Well good morning, good morning and thank you everyone for coming and joining us here at the American Psychiatric Association for a very, very important discussion that we'll be having with experts in the field today. Before we get started, I'd like to first do a land acknowledgement and then second I'll introduce our keynote address speaker. So for the land acknowledgement, every community owes its existence and vitality to generations from around the world who contributed their hopes, dreams, and energy to making the history that led to where we are today collectively. Some were brought here against their will, some were drawn to leave their distant homes in hope of a better life, and some have lived on this land for more generations than can be counted. Truth and acknowledgement are critical to building mutual respect and connection across all barriers of heritage and difference. We begin this effort to acknowledge what has been buried by honoring the truth. And in this truth, I humbly acknowledge that the land on which we sit today is where the Piscataway, Pamunkey, Nanticoke, Matapani, Chickahominy, Mannequin, and Powhatan cultures thrived. We acknowledge that it is our collective obligation to support and pursue policies and practices that respect this land and its First Peoples. Thank you. So now we'll move on to today's interesting conference, meeting, however you want. It's a gathering of like minds who want to make a difference. So it's titled Improving Cultural Congruency Across the Mental Health Care Delivery Network. So what is actually meant by cultural congruent care? You hear a lot about it today, but I'm just going to give you a couple of bullets or nuggets. First, being aware of power dynamics, the power dynamics between you, the health care provider, the physician, the counselor, and the patient that you're working with, and trying to mitigate this dynamic. Asking questions of your patients or clients about their culture, their religious and spiritual beliefs to get a better understanding of who they are as a whole person. Asking how they want to be addressed and who's going to be making the decisions about their care. And if necessary, using translational materials or interpreter systems to minimize language barriers. And of course, practicing cultural humility. And what is that? It's simply acknowledging what you know and what you don't know about your patient's cultural background. And then, actively listening to learn more about their experiences, being cognizant of your own biases and cultural assumptions to better understand each other. Again, acknowledging there is a power dynamic and that you're going to try to mitigate this imbalance. So that is what cultural congruency is and that's what we're going to be discussing today and hopefully will allow you to take some nuggets, some bullets away so that you can apply it in your practice, in your everyday lives. So today we have presentations, discussions, and active participation. Not only to understand and appreciate the relationship between cultural incongruence and inequalities in health care, but also at the end of the day, pull all of this evidence-based information together and be able to operationalize it in your clinical practice. Now, who to better set the stage for this discussion? A longtime champion and leader of health equity, Dr. Yolanda Lawson. Don't get up yet, Dr. Lawson. Let me start with a short story about Dr. Lawson. I think it really sets the context for the work that she has done over her career. As a medical student, Dr. Lawson recalls standing in a room with an older black patient who was surrounded by students, residents, and the attending physician, all discussing the management plan for the day. As the team finished and moved on, the patient turned to Dr. Lawson and said, can you please explain to me what they're saying? Now, mind you, she was the only black person in the group. Can you please explain to me what they're saying? Amid all the conversation among the clinicians about the patient, not one of them had actually addressed him directly. What Dr. Lawson witnessed firsthand that day, in part, shaped the trajectory of her career. While communication, acknowledgement, respect are important in deliberately deconstructing the power dynamic between the doctor and the patient and creating an environment where there is a sense of safety and trust. This allows the patient to feel comfortable bringing their whole authentic selves to the doctor-patient relationship, which ultimately can improve patient outcomes. So we are very, very honored to have Dr. Lawson here today. And let me just share a little bit about her background before she comes to the podium. Dr. Lawson is the immediate past president of the National Medical Association, which is the oldest national African-American medical association in the United States. So first, let's give her a hand for that. That's an accomplishment. She has spent her entire career working to foster health equity. As an obstetrician and gynecologist, Dr. Lawson sits on a number of boards, committees, speaker bureaus. She spoke before the Senate, and she just actually shared with me that she just came back from Philly, yet on another committee, really fostering and pushing for health equity. So she has utilized her leadership position to advocate for health equity and empowerment throughout her entire career. Just a few additional highlights. She serves as the executive medical director for maternal infant health at the Healthcare Services Corporation. She is owner of Madewell Obstetrics and Gynecology in Dallas, Texas, for about the past 17 years. She's an associate attending at Baylor University Medical Center. She was recently recognized by Becker's Hospital Review as one of the 2024 top blacks to know in health care, and we will know her today. Another hand. That's fine. Let's give it up for her. She received her medical degree from University of Arkansas for medical sciences, internship at Morehouse School of Medicine, and residency in Detroit at St. John Hospital and Medical Center. Please let's all welcome Dr. Yolanda Lawson.

mental health equity

cultural congruency

cultural humility

health equity

language barriers