Cultural & Behavioral Health Disparities Amid COVID-19

Course overview

Cultural & Behavioral Health Disparities Amid COVID-19 is a 4-hour online continuing education (CE/CEU) course that examines COVID-19 and other mental and behavioral health disparities among racial and ethnic minority populations. We address social determinants of health and their influence on mental and behavioral health outcomes for COVID-19. Research findings are presented to assist with the knowledge component of racial and ethnocultural responsiveness. We examine the mental and behavioral health disparities of racial and ethnic minority populations collectively and then separately, highlighting African Americans, Native Americans, and Latino/Hispanic groups. We investigate how racism and discrimination, economic inequality, healthcare access and utilization, work and home conditions, and mass incarceration contribute to COVID-19 morbidity and mortality rates among racial and ethnic minority populations. Poorer mental and behavioral health outcomes for COVID-19 reiterate the importance of addressing health inequalities, responding to systems of oppression, validating intergenerational trauma, removing barriers to healthcare access, and engaging in culturally responsive care. During the course, you are encouraged to self-reflect on the role of your own racial and ethnic identity. To aid in this process, self-reflection prompts are included periodically to promote the development of cultural humility. These prompts will help with the awareness component of cultural competency. An awareness of our own cultural values, biases, and assumptions is necessary in order to acknowledge racial bias, stereotyping, and where we are on the scale of privileged to marginalized), thus assisting in developing the skills necessary for the promotion of physical, mental and behavioral health equity. Course #40-53 | 2021 | 80 pages | 25 posttest questions