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NAMI-APA CME Collaborative

Recovery for All
December 2007

In September 2006, the American Psychiatric Association and NAMI first announced our collaborative Continuing Medical Education (CME) project, headed by Majosé Carrasco, M.P.A., Director of the NAMI Multicultural Action Center, and Annelle Primm, M.D., M.P.H., Director of the APA Office of Minority and National Affairs.

The CME intervention aims to: equip primary care physicians with the knowledge and tools to identify and provide appropriate treatment of depression in minority populations; create awareness of cultural influences and how depression manifests within a cultural context; and to model successful communication and partnership between providers and patients of different cultures. The program is taught by a team consisting of a consumer, a family member, and a physician.  Together, the facilitators model successful partnering and showcase the expertise each individual brings to the treatment setting.  

Throughout the year, we hosted focus groups with both physicians and consumers, wrote and revised the curriculum with the help of a scientific advisory group, then piloted the completed curriculum in New Orleans, St. Louis, and Los Angeles.

An evaluation of data compiled from pilot participants revealed several goals of the program were successfully reached: physicians experienced statistically significant improvement on 5 out of 7 items related to the cultural aspects of depression care; a significant increase in confidence in ability to communicate effectively with patients from diverse and underserved populations regarding the diagnosis and treatment of depression; and 97% of participants found the curriculum helpful in addressing barriers to and approaches for depression care.

We are now proud to close 2007 in the final stages of developing our curriculum, In Living Color: Depression Treatment in Primary Care.

For more information, view our first article about the NAMI-APA collaborative in Recovery for All, or view our PowerPoint presentation from the NAMI 2007 Convention.

 

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