Background
Background
In 1973, the Center for Minority Health at the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) was alarmed by the lack of mental health professionals who could provide culturally competent care to an increasing racial/ethnic and culturally diverse population, with ever expanding needs for mental health services and research. Ethnic and racial minority mental health providers and researchers could best address many of the problems faced by these various populations. However, only a small number of these professionals were in place. This same year, the Center for Minority Mental Health invited the American Sociological Association (ASA) to submit a grant proposal to support doctoral level training of ethnic and racial minority sociologists. In 1974, a small training grant was awarded to ASA from the National Institute of Mental Health for the purpose of supporting doctoral education for ethnic/minority researchers and clinicians.
The initial effort quickly expanded as invitations to submit training grants were extended to the other core mental health professions of psychiatry (American Psychiatric Association), nursing (American Nurses Association), social work (Council on Social Work Education), and psychology (American Psychological Association). Each organization responded with enthusiasm, and thus began what has been the most consistent, focused, and effective national program to train ethnic minority mental health providers and researchers.
History
For almost three decades, the Ethnic Minority Fellowship Program (EMFP) of the American Nurses Association (ANA) has been engaged in the challenge of reshaping the profile of nurse leaders in research, clinical practice, and academia. The efforts of the EMFP have resulted in an increase in the numbers of ethnic/minority nurses who have expertise in psychiatric/mental health nursing. About 266 EMFP Fellows with earned doctorates help to document the program's success in increasing the needed diversity across all domains of the profession. Fellows of the EMFP have contributed to nursing's theoretical and empirical knowledge base about the distinctive needs and strengths of ethnic minority populations and to the much needed dialogue about nursing's role in providing culturally competent and linguistically appropriate health care services. Some of the graduates are employed as clinicians, who work in high risk urban and rural areas, providing care to children and families who are victims of violence, HIV/AIDS, and substance abuse. Others provide direct care to the mentally ill who reside in a variety of settings such as state hospitals and community based homes. Still, others work in community clinics and outreach programs, and are often the primary care providers for indigent patients and their families, who might otherwise go without needed mental health services.
A substantial number of the Fellows seek and retain employment in academic settings where they teach, conduct research, and participate in the promulgation of public policy. These fellows generate research on ethnic/minority mental health service utilization, evidence-based assumptions that culturally appropriate research and public policy aid all professionals in their efforts to provide effective and culturally relevant care to individuals and their families. These approaches help to reduce and eliminate health care disparities, lessen the cost of health care, minimize the impact of stigma that is attached to mental illness in some communities, and improve the Nation's overall health status.
Uniqueness
The EMFP is unique and highly successful at several levels. First, it is a national program and not based at any particular institution. Instead, it is located at the professional organization's headquarters, the ANA, Washington, DC. The ANA offers financial support, visibility, and legitimacy for this fellowship program. Second, this model promotes and expects collaboration between and among the core mental health disciplines, and is able to benefit from the best thinking and insights from all of its participants. Third, multidisciplinary professional networking can occur, as each professional group makes unique contributions and, at the same time, benefits enormously from the others. This Program is demonstrable of an exemplary model for a long-term approach for educating nurses, which should be strengthened and replicated in various settings throughout this great Nation.
Funding
Presently, the EMFP administers pre-doctoral and post-doctoral fellowships. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) of the Division of Health and Human Services provides the resources for these fellowships. Over the course of the program's existence, the EMFP has financially and professionally supported more than 266 ethnic/minority nurses in their pursuit of excellence in leadership positions in research, education, clinical practice and public policy promulgation.
For more information on SAMHSA's Minority Fellowship Program, go to www.mentalhealth.org/publications/allpubs/NMH02-0143/default.asp.
Looking Ahead
As the EMFP plans for the future, there are some cogent issues on the horizon that need to be addressed. The aging of the American population will present a daunting challenge to mental health professionals and, at the same time, the overall American workforce is becoming feminized, more culturally diverse, and older. Ethnic populations are gradually becoming more heterogeneous, each with its own set of cultural values, folkways, and mores. Though the EMFP has met and surpassed its goals over the past two decades, its challenges will require a focused and concentrated effort related to educating a sophisticated workforce of nurses who are doctorally prepared, conduct research, and function as competent clinicians, educators, and policy promulgators