The guidelines for cultural assessment and formulation are intended to help the consultant collect, organize and integrate information pertinent to a cultural consultation. Two versions are presented:
Version A, developed by the Cultural Consultation Service at the JGH, is an elaboration of the cultural formulation in DSM-IV. The first sections summarize information usually collected in a comprehensive psychiatric history but with questions added to address common issues and experiences for immigrants, refugees and members of ethnocultural minorities. The crucial section focuses directly on the cultural formulation.
Version B, developed by the Transcultural Child Psychiatry Clinic at the Montreal Children’s Hospital, is designed as a semi-structured interview to be used by a researcher interviewing a clinician/consultant after the fact. As a result, it is more retrospectively focused, aimed at reconstructing a case that may have been followed in treatment for some time.
