Home - Mental Health Race And Culture (mhrac)

Welcome to the personal website of Suman Fernando, psychiatrist, academic and writer

This site provides information on issues around ‘race’ and ‘culture’ in relation to mental health in western multi-ethnic societies, social and mental health care in low income (‘third world’) countries and racism in psychiatry. I hope this site is of public interest and useful to researchers, writers and mental health professionals.

I was a consultant psychiatrist in the British National Health Service for over twenty years until the mid-1990s. Since then I have been an academic, a writer and an advisor on mental health practice and service provision. I was a member of the Mental Health Act Commission (a government inspectorate) for several years until 1995 where I chaired its National Standing Committee on Race and Culture. I am involved in voluntary organisations (NGOs) providing mental health services for minority ethnic communities in the UK and also for people in Sri Lanka. Here it is a list of my appointments (click to see).

I have an interest in matters to do with legal safeguards for users of mental health services in the UK, especially to minimize racism, and I am involved in lobbying for changes in mental health service provision.

I have written several books and published many papers (click here for publications). I have lectured and conducted many seminars for mental health professionals, academics in the fields of social care and mental health, in UK, Canada and Sri Lanka. My interests and background (having been born and brought up in Sri Lanka) have taken me into becoming involved in capacity building work in Sri Lanka (click her for more..) and in researching issues around mental health and mental health provision in low income countries click here for paper on this).

Who am I ?

Professor Suman Fernanado

I am a Hon. Senior Lecturer in Mental Health at European Centre for Migration & Social Care (MASC) at University of Kent. I am also a visiting professor in the Department of Applied Social Science at London Metropolitan University. More...

I have published extensively and lectured widely in UK and abroad on aspects of mental heath, race and culture. My books include "Cultural Diversity, Mental Health and Psychiatry: The Struggle Against Racism."

Click here for a list of my recent publications.