Transcultural SIG Webinar 2024 | Navigating Diverse Perspectives and Practices

The Transcultural SIG are delighted to announce a Spring lunchtime webinar on the theme of Navigating Diverse Perspectives and Practices. The webinar will be chaired by Dr Hasanen Al-Taiar, and will feature talks by Dr Shahid Latif and Professor Meryam Schouler-Ocak, as well as a Q&A session.

Dr Shahid Latif will speak on the theme of 'Understanding diverse cultural backgrounds, cultural barriers and mental healthcare'

It is well documented that there are certain cultural barriers in mental health care that can lead to misdiagnoses be it under or over diagnoses. These may include language, belief systems, stigma, religious beliefs and treatment preferences. From a patient's perspective, this may lead to misunderstandings, reluctance to seek help and subsequently inadequate care.

It is important to have a good understanding and competence around cultural sensitivities and awareness in order to address these barriers effectively, some of which include community engagement, culturally tailored interventions, diverse representation, addressing stigma, flexible treatment approaches and collaborative care. Continuous learning and improvement are a cornerstone to this.

Professor Meryam Schouler-Ocak will speak on the theme of 'Facing ethical dilemmas of mental health care for migrants and refugees'

This webinar was originally planned for 22 March, but has now been postponed to 3 July 2024.

Dr Hasanen Al-Taiar

Dr Al-Taiar is a consultant forensic psychiatrist who graduated with a Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery (MBChB), who holds membership of The Royal College of Psychiatrists (MRCPsych) and is a Senior Member of the Higher Education Academy (SFHEA). He is a Royal College of Psychiatrists CASC and a General medical Council (GMC) examiner for Professional Linguistic Assessment Board (PLAB 2) test which is the qualifying exam for International Medical Graduates.

He is a full time consultant forensic psychiatrist employed by Oxford Health NHS Foundation (OHFT) Trust since 2016 and works in the Oxford Clinic Medium Secure Unit, at Littlemore Mental Health Centre in Oxford. He provides specialist mental health input to forensic patients and expert witness opinions to HM Courts, Parole Board and Tribunal Service. He provides specialist psychiatric input to inpatients at Evenlode medium secure unit at the Oxford clinic, and is a medical member of His Majesty’s Tribunal Service.

One of his ambitions is to raise the awareness, build professional capacity and set up specialised forensic psychiatry services in many countries which provide specialist mental health input to mentally unwell offenders. He delivers training in forensic aspects of psychiatry e.g. risk assessment of violence, and writing to the Courts, both nationally and internationally.

Dr Shahid Latif

Dr. Shahid Latif is a Consultant Psychiatrist and Medical Director at St. Matthews Healthcare. He has been involved in medical management for over 12 years and has been involved in building productive relationships at all levels, pioneering innovative mental health systems, clinical development processes, leading change in teaching programmes, setting standards for mental health care advancement and improving the quality of people’s lives.

He was appointed Fellowship by the Royal College of Psychiatrist in October 2017 and nominated as RCPsych Communicator of the year in 2023. He received clinical excellence awards in 2012 and 2018 and is the current Chair of RCPsych Trent Division and the RCPsych Diaspora Committee.

Dr Latif chairs the British Pakistani Psychiatrists Association and is former chair of RCPsych Transcultural SIG. He is actively involved as a regular CAS examiner. He is on the BBC Asian Networks panel of experts for mental health and hosts a radio health show during Ramadan.

Professor Meryam Schouler-Ocak

Prof Schouler-Ocak is the Professor for Intercultural Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, as well as a specialist for neurology, psychotherapy, particularly in trauma focused psychotherapy and in EMDR –therapy. She is chair of Research Unit on Intercultural Migration and Care Research, Social Psychiatry at Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin.

Prof Schouler-Ocak received the Order of Merit by the Federal Republic of Germany 2014. In 2022, she received the Pioneering Working in Cultural Psychiatry Award “In recognition of ground-breaking contributions to Cultural Psychiatry” of the World Association of Cultural Psychiatry (WACP). Since 2017, she is Honorary Member of the World Psychiatric Association (WPA). Prof. Schouler-Ocak is board member of European Psychiatric Association (EPA); chair of Committee on Ethical issues of the EPA; Board member of the World Association of Cultural Psychiatry (WACP) and Board member of the European Institute of Women's Health (EIWH).

She is also chair on Section of Intercultural Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Migration of the German Association for Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics (DGPPN) and President of the German-Turkish Association for Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosocial Health (DTGPP).

Her research interests focus on intercultural psychiatry and psychotherapy, trauma and trauma-related disorders, mental health and healthcare of immigrants, refugees, asylum seekers and ethnic minorities, suicidality, gender and diversity.

This webinar will be hosted on Zoom. It is an online only event.

The event will be recorded and the recording will be shared with attendees who have purchased a ticket for the webinar. Recordings are available to view for three months after the event.

Please read our terms and conditions before making your booking.