Black Mental Health Patients, Providers, and Systems

Novel in its approach and unique in its scope, Black Mental Health: Patients,
Providers, and Systems examines the role of African Americans within American
psychiatric health care from distinct but interconnected perspectives. The
experiences of both black patients and the black mental health professionals who
serve them are analyzed against the backdrop of the cultural, societal, and
professional forces that have shaped their place in this specialized health care
arena.

The volume opens with the singular, first-person accounts of five
senior black psychiatrists-including Dr. Altha J. Stewart, president of the
American Psychiatric Association-who describe their individual journeys to the
top of their field, not shying away from discussing the racism and
discrimination that have challenged their paths to leadership.

The book's
second part focuses on the complexities of and opportunities for delivering
mental health care to various subsets of the African American population,
including children, women, elderly patients, and LGBTQ individuals. System
design strategies, biological therapies, and church-based mental health
promotion initiatives are all considered as methods for reducing racial and
ethnic disparities in access to effective treatment.

Part III examines the
training of black mental health professionals and their representation in
psychiatry, particularly in the face of discrimination and implicit bias. A
chapter on historically black colleges and universities discusses the importance
of their role in the delivery of psychiatric services and research development
for African Americans. The fourth part builds on this discussion, addressing
research that is relevant to the care of the black population.

A
concluding chapter highlights the key themes that emerged from each of the
previous four parts, providing a holistic view of the place of black patients
and providers in American psychiatry.

With its blend of scholarship,
clinical insight, and training analysis, Black Mental Health is compulsory
reading both for trainees-as care delivery to minority groups is of ever greater
importance-and practicing clinicians, who will glean useful information from the
chapters on research advances and treatment modalities. Additionally, policy
makers, educators, and historians, among others, will gain a better
understanding of the challenges and necessity of developing integrated
approaches to the care of nondominant groups.