Transcultural child psychiatry: its history, present status and future challenges.

Abstract

Introduction: To provide a historical review of transcultural child psychiatry in Canada and discuss its future mandate within traditional mental health services.

Method: To present a summary of some key papers and chapters in the literature which describe the history and present status of transcultural child psychiatry since its inception 30 years ago.

Results: There is a virtual absence of transcultural material in the early editions of the most valued textbooks of child and adolescent psychiatry. This has only begun to change during the past 5 years. In Canada, work has centered around recently arrived immigrant and refugee children with comparatively little work being done with other minority groups.

Conclusion: Transcultural child psychiatry remains a profoundly understaffed subspecialty. To change this, university departments of child psychiatry should initiate the formation of groups of transculturally aware clinicians and researchers.