This webinar brings together leading voices in cultural psychiatry to explore the clinical and structural importance of culturally responsive care in the current climate of rising anti-DEI sentiment and systemic homogenization of services. Dr. Francis Lu will begin with a review of Part D of the Outline for Cultural Formulation (DSM-5-TR), emphasizing the often-overlooked cultural dynamics of relationships between patients, clinicians, treatment teams, and institutions. This will be followed by Dr. Ted Lo and Professor Josephine Wong, who will reflect on the controversial closure of the Asian Initiative in Mental Health (AIM) at University Health Network—one of Canada’s largest academic hospitals—and the community-driven RE-AIM Coalition that emerged in response. Discussants Dr. Laurence Kirmayer and Dr. Roberto Lewis-Fernández will then explore broader implications for cultural programs under increasing pressure to “integrate” into mainstream services. They will highlight the structural vulnerabilities of ethnospecific and other cultural models of care, the critical value of cultural safety and relational frameworks, and the risks posed by policy shifts that overlook cultural needs in favour of administrative efficiency. The session will conclude with an open discussion of next steps for advocacy, scholarship, and clinical practice to ensure cultural programming remain central to equitable mental health care.

Learning Objectives:

1. Describe the significance of Part D of the DSM-5-TR Outline for Cultural Formulation, with a focus on the cultural dynamics of relationships between patients, treatment teams, and institutions.

2. Analyze the closure of the Asian Initiative in Mental Health (AIM) as a case study in systemic retrenchment of culturally specific mental health services.

3. Evaluate the implications of anti-DEI trends and integrationist policies on the sustainability and equity of ethnospecific and culturally responsive care models.