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e-Mental Health Toward Cross-Cultural Populations Worldwide

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e-Mental Health

Abstract

Cross-cultural patient mental health-care demands a high standard of communication between the patient and the provider, since linguistic and other differences may influence it and consequently affect quality of care and satisfaction. Geographical distances, culture, religious, and linguistic, make it difficult for some patient populations to access mental health professionals in their desired way. Clinicians with a positive attitude to differences and who advocate for patients may seek out e-Mental Health (eMH) innovations to overcome barriers, increase the quality of mental health care for ethnic minorities, and enhance their own education. Indeed, eMH applications offer new possibilities for reducing disparities in access to relevant mental health care to most vulnerable patient groups, such as refugees, migrants, and asylum seekers worldwide. National and international cross-cultural eMH services may contribute to reduce stigma and improve quality of health care of these groups in their host countries. Equal access to mental health services is a human right, for both domestic and immigrant population in modern communities worldwide.

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Acknowledgments

Ministry of the Interior and Health, the Egmont Foundation, and the Health Insurance Foundation for projects funded in Denmark from 2004 to 2012.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Little Prince Psychiatric Centre, Copenhagen, Denmark

    Davor Mucic MD

  2. Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Donald M. Hilty MD

  3. Health Informatics Graduate Program, University of California, Davis Health System, Sacramento, CA, USA

    Peter M. Yellowlees MD, MBBS

Authors
  1. Davor Mucic MD
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  2. Donald M. Hilty MD
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  3. Peter M. Yellowlees MD, MBBS
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Davor Mucic MD .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. The Little Prince Psychiatric Centre, Copenhagen, Denmark

    Davor Mucic

  2. Keck School of Medicine University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA

    Donald M. Hilty

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Mucic, D., Hilty, D.M., Yellowlees, P.M. (2016). e-Mental Health Toward Cross-Cultural Populations Worldwide. In: Mucic, D., Hilty, D. (eds) e-Mental Health. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-20852-7_5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-20852-7_5

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-20851-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-20852-7

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