Francis G. Lu, M.D., is the Luke & Grace Kim Endowed Professor in Cultural Psychiatry, Emeritus, in the Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences at the University of California, Davis.

As an APA Distinguished Life Fellow, Dr. Lu has spent his career advancing cultural psychiatry through his contributions to the interface with religion/spirituality, psychiatric education, diversity/inclusion, mental health equity, psychiatry, and film.

He is active in several specialty interest caucuses at APA, including the Asian American and Pacific Islander Caucus and the Caucus on Religion and Spirituality.

Here, Dr. Lu provides tailored recommendations that tie into the theme of the social determinants of mental health. These recommendations establish the importance for mental health professionals in understanding, diagnosing and including social determinants of mental health in treatment planning, as well as mobilizing social action to advocate for policy changes.

Film Recommendations

• To Kill A Mockingbird (1962)
• The Grapes of Wrath (1940)
• King: A Filmed Record...From Montgomery to Memphis (1970)

Book Recommendations

• The Social Determinants of Mental Health
• Social (In)justice and Mental Health
• Struggle and Solidarity: Seven Stories of How Americans Fought for Their Mental Health Through Federal Legislation

“Struggle and Solidarity is a ground-breaking and inspirational book that shows readers how others have successfully advocated in the past for seven federal non-health-related laws and public policies—that impacted social determinants of health and mental health for the entire population. With it, APA Publishing now completes a trilogy of essential titles that call for action on social determinants that began with The Social Determinants of Mental Health (2015) and Social (In)justice and Mental Health (2020). This book, along with the earlier ones, clearly establishes that in addition to biomedical determinants and psychological determinants, every psychiatrist must understand and incorporate the social determinants of mental health both in individual patient care and in advocating for public policies to advance mental health.” - Dr. Francis G. Lu

Find more books on cultural psychiatry from APA Publishing by visiting appi.org/products and checking the category filter next to “Cultural Psychiatry.”