The Cultural Formulation Interview-Engagement Aid

Culture affects how all people communicate and understand the world. Culture is important because patients and clinicians from different cultural backgrounds may have different preferences for communication. Mismatch in the clinician's approach and the patient's expectations of care can lead to patient dissatisfaction and discontinuation with treatment. Patients and clinicians may also have different views about what caused an illness, how it functions, what makes it better or worse, and the types of treatment needed. The CFI-EA is a series of questions over three sessions that clinicians can use to clarify patient views about treatment and communication so that patients stay in treatment longer. Clinicians can use the CFI-EA to customize their current treatment plans.

The study team will revise the CFI-EA based on patient and clinician feedback. The study team expects that the revisions will consist of changes to the questions such as adding or subtracting specific items or revising the wording of the content. The study team do not anticipate other changes, though we will let our empirical data analyses guide revisions in consultation with the K23 mentor team.

Standard mental health treatment at FHMC