International evidence demonstrates that ethnic minority populations disproportionately experience mental health difficulties. Despite their increased mental health needs, evidence also indicates ethnic minority populations experience inequitable access to and quality of mental health care. Once a country of mass emigration, Ireland is now experiencing an era of superdiversity. However, our mental health system remains predominantly designed and delivered for the White Irish ethnic majority. This contravenes international human rights legislation and national mental health policy which mandate equity in mental health provision and, to achieve it, the implementation of empowering, culturally responsive, and rights-based mental healthcare. To date, efforts to mitigate the inequities experienced by ethnic minorities have focused on mental health practitioners’ cultural competency. Whilst improving practitioners’ knowledge and attitude in the short-term, negligible evidence exists about cultural competency’s ability to induce long-term impact on practitioner behaviour, system change, and health outcomes. For these reasons, evidence indicates that it is insufficient when solely implemented and the complementary approach of cultural humility is also needed.
Cultural humility emphasises cultural fluidity, practitioners’ life-long self-reflection, and the need for systemic action. However, there is an absence of research which fully conceptualises and operationally defines it, impeding its practical implementation and evaluation in mental health systems. The proposed research will begin the work required to reduce this evidence-practice gap by implementing Community Based Participatory Research (CBPR) to co-produce a model of cultural humility in mental healthcare, which is context responsive, implementable, and measurable. Epistemologically informed by CBPR and theoretically grounded by implementation science, the research will co-produce actionable knowledge products on; 1) the implementation climate’s capacity and receptivity to integrate cultural humility; 2) the essential components and quality indicators of a culturally humble model of mental healthcare; 3) strategic implementation guidance in support of strengthening cultural humility in mental healthcare.
