Knocking down stigma and silence: Mental Health & Substance Misuse in the Black Community

Course Description

This Mental Health and Substance use course has been developed to help address the barriers by providing accurate, peer-reviewed and useful mental health information by way of learning activities that are culturally focused and support knowledge exchange and competence building. An emphasis will be placed on understanding the social determinants of health and exploring these issues from a social justice perspective. We will also explore and examine a variety of perspectives and contextual factors used to unpack other issues and concepts of mental health and substance use. In this course, as we explore these contexts, we will also briefly explore the implications of various models of intervention/approaches to mental health and substance misuse support with/for members of the Black community.

Learning Objectives:  

By the end of this session, participants will be able to:

• Understand a broad range of perspectives (e.g., biological, psychological, sociological, environmental) applied to explain mental health, mental illness and substance misuse.

• Identify different substances,  mental disorders and symptomology and the impacts

• Identify the role that the social  determinants of health play in shaping the mental health experience of Black Canadians

• Recognize the impact of Anti Black racism and microaggression on mental health

• Identify and explore the barriers and mediators to Mental Health care and substance use support

• Discuss cultural competency/ cultural responsive support and services

Evaluation 

• Short multiple-choice Quiz