Abstract
The past few years have witnessed increased discussion of physician and health advocacy. This chapter discusses the concept of the physician as an advocate in addressing issues of race and racism in the field of psychiatry. The authors argue that physician advocacy is necessary for addressing multiple forms of racism and the ways in which racism shapes disparate health and health care outcomes. The chapter reviews definitions of clinician advocacy and traces historical examples of advocacy within the field of psychiatry. A multidisciplinary framework of anthropology, sociology, and psychiatry is employed to examine race and racism in the field of psychiatry. Finally, specific strategies to address racism are provided, including strategies pertaining to curricula, training, and research. Ultimately, there is a need to advocate beyond the needs of the individual patient, and the field of psychiatry and the broader field of medicine need more systemic and robust forms of advocacy to address racism.
Keywords
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Ohueri, C.W., Brown, V.A., Lawson, W.B. (2019). Racial and Ethnic Minority Mental Health Advocacy: Strategies for Addressing Racism. In: Medlock, M., Shtasel, D., Trinh, NH., Williams, D. (eds) Racism and Psychiatry. Current Clinical Psychiatry. Humana Press, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-90197-8_12
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