In this episode of the InOn Health podcast, KP introduces Dr. Brandi Jackson, chief behavioral health officer at Howard Brown Health, and Kevin Dedner, CEO and founder of Hurdle. They discuss the current structure of the mental healthcare system in the United States and how cultural humility and responsiveness can improve the system to serve diverse populations.
Show Notes
Dr. Brandi Jackson, chief behavioral health officer at Howard Brown Health, and Kevin Dedner, CEO and founder of Hurdle, join KP in this episode of the InOn Health podcast. Dr. Jackson and Kevin address the structure of the mental healthcare system in the United States. They elaborate how the current system lacks effective therapeutic alliance for people of color in the U.S, resulting in poor provider fits and patients terminating therapy prematurely. For example, 50% of Black Americans terminate therapy sessions prematurely, compared to 33% for other general populations. Dr. Jackson and Kevin explain this dynamic is due to a lack of education in the training process, leaving psychiatrists and clinical psychologists unprepared to help treat diverse populations.
Hurdle is a mental healthcare platform focused on delivering culturally intentional mental healthcare, consisting of virtual therapy services and self-mastery tools. To combat barriers of the current mental healthcare system, Hurdle trains its providers with evidence-based techniques dedicated to developing cultural humility and culture responsiveness. Kevin explains how this approach emphasizes listen more and talk less, improving therapeutic alliance and provider fits for patients. This foundation of care enables a safe space for patients, allowing providers to assess what prevents patients from showing up fully to each session and removing those barriers. Cultural humility and responsiveness have demonstrated a reduction in terminating therapy prematurely.
Kevin discusses the hypothesis that self-care is a pathway to teletherapy. As people dedicate time to healing and normalize new habits, they are more likely to transition more easily into therapy. Ultimately, everyone wants their experiences, family history, and culture to be honored across all areas of life, especially in therapy sessions. Dr. Jackson is the co-founder of The Institute of Antiracism in Medicine. This organization trains clinicians to recognize implicit biases by providing tools to serve as advocates for their patients, understanding how to engage in the topic of racism, and ultimately eliminating racism from the healthcare system.
Links:
The Joy of the Disinherited: Essays on Trauma, Oppression and Black Mental Health
Hurdle
The Institute for Antiracism in Medicine
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What is InOn Health Podcast?
Health equity issues in our country have been around for decades – largely impacting communities of color and rural areas. When it comes to economic and racial disparities in health the evidence is clear. This is more than a hot topic. Covid-19 has exposed the underbelly of how social determinants of health and racial disparities play out in our country. What we need now is to impart lasting change.
Welcome to the InOn Health podcast. I’m your host Kaakpema Yelpaala, and I’m the co-founder and CEO of InOn Health.
In this podcast we’re going to be talking about health equity. We’ll be talking to entrepreneurs, thought leaders, investors, and other industry experts in healthcare and public health. The topics we’ll cover will range from racial disparities in health to digital innovation for diverse populations, and ultimately how we build better policy to more inclusively serve everyone around their healthcare needs.
Join me on this podcast series to not only be inspired by our leaders but also to get insight on how we can all take action.