Antiracist training programs for mental health professionals: A scoping review.

Racism has been shown to be directly deleterious to the mental health care received by minoritized peoples. In response, some mental health institutions have pledged to provide antiracist mental health care, which includes training mental health care professionals in this approach. This scoping review aimed to synthesize the existing published material on antiracist training programs among mental health care professionals. To identify studies, a comprehensive search strategy was developed and executed by a research librarian in October 2022 across seven databases (APA PsycInfo, Education Source, Embase, ERIC, MEDLINE, CINAHL, and Web of Science). Subject headings and keywords relating to antiracist training as well as to mental health professionals were used and combined. There were 7186 studies generated by the initial search and 377 by the update search, 30 were retained and included. Findings revealed four main antiracist competencies to develop in mental health professionals: importance of understanding the cultural, social, and historical context at the root of the mental health problems; developing awareness of individual biases, self-identity and privilege; recognizing oppressive and racism-sustaining behaviors in mental health care settings; and, employing antiracist competencies in therapy. Professionals who have taken trainings having the main components have developed skills on the interconnectedness between racialized groups' mental health and the cultural, religious, social, historical, economic, and political issues surrounding race, necessary for successful clinical practice and for providing anti-racist mental health care. This scoping review presents a summary of the essential antiracist competencies drawn from the literature which must be applied in a mental health care setting, to improve help seeking behaviors, and reduce distrust in mental health care professionals and settings.

Social mobilization, education, and prevention of the Ebola virus disease: A scoping review.

The Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) remains a global public health concern with multiple outbreaks over the last five years. This scoping review aimed to synthesize the current state of knowledge on awareness, education, and community mobilization programs on EVD prevention. A comprehensive search strategy was executed in October 2021 across eight databases (APA PsycInfo, CINAHL, Cochrane CENTRAL, Embase, Global Health, MEDLINE, Scopus, and Web of Science). According to the PRISMA flow diagram, out of the 4815 studies generated by the search, 33 were retained for extraction and were included in this scoping review. Findings revealed that cultural practices that increased the risk of Ebola transmission remain very prevalent, even educational and awareness campaigns. Levels of Ebola-related knowledge by community members varied widely. A large proportion of the Ebola-affected populations were not aware of modes of transmission and half were unaware of signs and symptoms. Interventions with deep community mobilization, collaboration and engagement were effective in changing cultural practices, and reducing rates of infection. Interventions in the health sector helped increase willingness to practice preventive methods and the maintenance of social distancing and patient handwashing. A majority of the population members received their information about EVD from the community and mass media (in most instances, through broadcasting stations). Community interventions with a collaborative approach are effective to prevent EVD. It is needed to build trust between communities and health care, but also to use local resources and cultural factors combined with the use of technologies of information to prevent EVD.

Prevalence and risk factors associated with psychostimulant use among Black individuals: A meta-analysis and systematic review.

BACKGROUND: Psychostimulants (e.g., cocaine, amphetamine) are among the most widely used drugs globally with detrimental short and long-term physical, psychological and social consequences. There is limited data on psychostimulant use for various racial and ethnic groups, including Black people, and the challenges they face living as minorities overcoming historical challenges including increased incarceration associated with drug possession. METHODS: Peer-reviewed articles were identified in five databases (APA PsycInfo, CINAHL, Cochrane CENTRAL, Embase, MEDLINE). Eligible studies were published in French or English, provided empiral data on psychostimulant use in Black individuals living in a minority context. The PRISMA guideline was used for structuring the review. Random-effects meta-analyses were generated to estimate the pooled prevalence of lifetime and periodic psychostimulant use among Black individuals using STATA 16. RESULTS: Sixty-three studies published from 1991 to 2022 with a sample size of 139,683 Black individuals were included in the current meta-analysis. Results indicate a pooled prevalence estimate of 11.4% for any form of psychostimulant use among Black individuals. The pooled prevalence estimates were 12.4% (95% CI, 8.4% - 16.4%) for cocaine, 8.3% (95% CI, 0% - 19.1%) for amphetamines, and 11.4% (95% CI, 4.6% - 18.1%) for other stimulants. Prediction intervals for all psychostimulant types were highly heterogenous ranging from 0% to as high as 51.2% for amphetamine suggesting prevalence of use in some studies of Black people could be found to be as low as zero. Subgroup analyses were conducted to examine differences between age groups, gender, reference period, and type of assessment. CONCLUSIONS: High prevalence rates of psychostimulant use among Black people argues for greater access to evidence-based treatments. However, current psychosocial interventions are suboptimal, warranting further study. Consideration needs to be given to the challenges of the large range of prediction intervals, living in urban areas, racial discrimination experiences, race-based stress, and sociodemographic characteristics, including poverty, education level, age, gender.

The global evolution of mental health problems during the COVID-19 pandemic: A systematic review and meta-analysis of longitudinal studies.

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic impacted mental health, but the global evolution of mental health problems during the pandemic is unknown. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of longitudinal studies to evaluate the global evolution of mental health problems during the pandemic. METHODS: To conduct this systematic review, we searched for published articles from APA PsycInfo (Ovid), CINAHL (EBSCOhost), Embase (Ovid), MEDLINE (Ovid), and Web of Science. Longitudinal (at least 2 waves during the COVID-19 pandemic) and peer-reviewed articles on mental health problems conducted as from 2020 and after were included in the current study. Of 394 eligible full texts, 64 articles were included in the analysis. We computed random effects, standardized mean differences, and log odds ratio (LOR) with 95 % CIs. The meta-analysis protocol was registered with PROSPERO (CRD42021273624). RESULTS: Results showed that anxiety (LOR = -0.33; 95 % CI, -0.54, -0.12) and depression symptoms (LOR = -0.12; 95 % CI, -0.21, -0.04) decreased from baseline to follow up. However, other mental health problems showed no change. Higher prevalence rates (40.9 %; 95 % CI, 16.1 %-65.8 %) of psychological distress were found in months after July 2020, respectively, while there were no significant month differences for the prevalence of other mental health problems. Higher means of anxiety (d = 3.63, 95 % CI, 1.66, 5.61), depression (d = 3.93; 95 % CI, 1.68, 6.17), and loneliness (d = 5.96; 95 % CI, 3.22, 8.70) were observed in May 2020. Higher prevalence of anxiety, depression, and PTSD and higher means of anxiety, depression and loneliness were observed in North America. The prevalence of psychological distress and insomnia was higher in Latin America and Europe, respectively. LIMITATIONS: There is a lack of longitudinal studies in some parts of the world, such as Africa, the Caribbean, India, the Middle East, in Latin America, and Asia. CONCLUSIONS: Results indicated that anxiety and depression symptoms decreased during the COVID-19 pandemic while other mental health problems showed no statistical change. The findings reveal that mental health problems peaked in April and May 2020. Prevalence of mental health problems remains high during the pandemic and mental health prevention, promotion and intervention programs should be implemented to mitigate the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic on the global population.