Summary: Dr John Furler is a senior research fellow from the Primary Care Research Unit at the Department of General Practice at Melbourne University and a practicing GP at a community health centre. In this podcast he talks to Dr Rachel Lee about mental health and cultural competence. Dr Furler discusses concepts of depression and anxiety and why cultural and socioeconomic factors are important in mental health work in general practice. He stresses the need to have a flexible approach to this area rather than overly generalising about how different cultural groups may present. Dr Furler discusses the important influence that interpreters can have on consultations and how GPs can go about negotiating a shared understanding with their patients.
