Incorporating Social and Cultural Assessments in Measurement-Based Care

Professional organizations are advancing measurement-based care (MBC), which uses symptom rating scales in diagnostic assessment and clinical decision making, as a model for mental health services. Publications have made business cases for implementing MBC but have not explained ways to incorporate sociocultural assessments. In this Open Forum, a cultural psychiatrist and adviser to the DSM-5 Gender and Cross-Cultural Issues Subgroup discusses how cross-cultural variations in symptoms, social factors affecting symptoms, and patient expectations of care may affect MBC.