NNED Virtual Roundtable: Understanding Behavioral Health Needs in Refugee, Immigrant, and Asylee Communities

February 23, 2022 | 1:00 pm - 2:30 pm EST

Understanding Behavioral Health Needs in Refugee, Immigrant, and Asylee Communities

The National Network to Eliminate Disparities in Behavioral Health (the NNED) is pleased to offer a Virtual Roundtable to discuss trauma, culture, and culturally responsive approaches to addressing behavioral health needs. The event will feature a discussion of the unique experience of refugees, immigrants, and asylees with a focus on the layers of trauma throughout and beyond the migration process, as well as on healing and resilience.

Trauma and culture intersect in different ways and shape people’s experiences of trauma and healing. With the added impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, many refugees, immigrants, and asylees experience complex trauma which can affect their emotional and behavioral needs. There are important considerations and often-unfamiliar mental health histories of refugees, immigrants, and asylees that community and mental health providers should understand. Honoring the unique cultural identities of clients and staff is a key aspect of providing culturally responsive, trauma-informed care. In an effort to highlight opportunities for building effective systems that address refugee, immigrant, and asylee mental health needs, panelists will identify promising practices in training, program design, and service delivery.

Learning Objectives:

The similarities and differences between refugees, immigrants, and asylees that affect mental health (e.g., trends, demographics, and other characteristics).
The effects on refugee, immigrant, and asylee mental health and trauma before, during, and after the migration process.
How communities can build culturally responsive, trauma-informed systems and programs that effectively facilitate access to mental health care for refugees, immigrants, and asylees.
How to build capacity and increase access for trauma informed and mental health care as well as support for refugees, immigrants, and asylees.

The event was also shared on Facebook Live at fb.com/nned.net and closed captioning was available through Zoom.

View Resources and the Recording!

This NNED Virtual Roundtable was hosted by the NNED National Facilitation Center and SAMHSA’s Office of Behavioral Health Equity in partnership with SAMHSA’s Mental Health Technology Transfer Center Network Coordinating Office.

Opening Remarks

Dr. Sheth smiling in black in front of a large art piece

Nima Sheth, MD, MPH | Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration

Senior Medical Advisor
SAMHSA Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS)

Dr. Nima Sheth is a psychiatrist by training and has a strong public health background. Prior to her arrival at SAMHSA, she worked at Georgetown University Hospital as Assistant Professor of Clinical Psychiatry. During her time there she served as clinician, researcher and educator, primarily focusing her efforts on improving care of the critically mentally ill and highly traumatized populations both nationally and internationally. She served as medical director of the partial hospitalization program, was regularly involved in the training of residents, and ran a busy clinic that primarily focused on severely ill and traumatized populations. Her research projects to date have largely focused on improving community mental health care programs and systems for underserved populations.

Dr. Sheth has also served as psychiatric consultant for various community clinics as well as led various trauma initiatives across organizations. This work has provided her with significant experience in the management of clinical and administrative processes for challenging and high risk patient populations and effective practice of care across disciplines.

Dr. Sheth has special expertise in cultural psychiatry and the care of forced migrants and has provided numerous trainings on trauma-informed care for migrant populations to various NGOs and community organizations as well as to trainees. She has served as psychiatric consultant to the World Health Organization and worked in a number of international projects across the Middle East, advising on increasing mental health capacity, improving the quality of mental health services, strengthening referral networks, and coordinating collaborative and integrative care.

Dr. Sheth has extensive experience in working in interdisciplinary teams to solve the complex mental health problems that lie at the nexus of clinical, administrative, and policy issues, as well as advising on clinical considerations and overseeing efforts to increase access to quality mental health care for vulnerable populations.

Panelists

Cecily wearing a black top, pink blazer, and gold necklace

Cecily Peeples Rodriguez | Virginia Tech School of Public Health and International Affairs

Manager of Applied Research
Virginia Tech School of Public and International Affairs

Cecily Rodriguez has been developing, implementing, and evaluating programs and services that seek to reduce service delivery barriers and increase equitable outcomes for more almost thirty years. As the Manager of Applied Research at the School of Public and International Affairs at Virginia Tech, she is responsible for designing equity related projects and research, revising and further developing learning and training material and supporting the management of research initiatives related to public sector leadership and governance. In the College of Architecture and Urban Studies, she serves as the Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. In this role she leads the development and implementation of strategic and operational planning, evaluation and assessment efforts to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion for the College. She came to Virginia Tech from the US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants (USCRI) where she was the Director of Refugee Health Services Division. She was responsible for executive leadership of grant and contract-related planning with budgets totaling more than $30 million annually. She helped to design an unprecedented model for a self-funded healthcare coverage plan operating across the nation. During previous service to the Commonwealth, Cecily was the Director of the Office of Health Equity Advancement and Workforce Development at the Virginia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services.

Cecily is a recognized equity and diversity expert with national certification as a Certified Diversity Executive (CDE). Along with her leadership role as Director of Communications for Richmond Region LULAC, she serves on the NNED Steering Committee, the Board of the Health Brigade, a free clinic serving the greater Richmond area, and as a member of the Virginia Department of Health Medical Reserve Corp.

Dr. Im smiling in front of a white wall in a black top

Hyojin Im, PhD, MSW, MA | Virginia Commonwealth University School of Social Work

Associate Professor
Virginia Commonwealth University School of Social Work

Dr. Hyojin Im is Associate Professor at the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Social Work. She received her Ph.D. in Social Work from the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities. She completed her postdoctoral training at Mack Center on Mental Health & Social Conflict of the University of California Berkeley. Her research is centered around the intersection between trauma and culture, focusing on how cultural values and belief systems shape mental health experiences and expressions and coping with trauma consequences (e.g. cultural idioms of distress). She is also passionate about linking local and global practices and policies for seamless refugee programs and sustainable interventions. Partnering with various national and international agencies (such as the Center for Victims of Torture, UNHCR, USAID, and the US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants), she has been promoting community capacity and partnership for mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) for refugee communities in both domestic and international settings. In recent years, she has worked with state-wide health promotion programs in Kentucky, Maine, Minnesota, Texas, and Virginia, in order to promote community-empowering wellness interventions and peer-led initiatives for culturally-responsive trauma-informed care for refugee newcomers. To learn more about her work, please check her Research Gate or Google Scholar pages.

Kathi Anderson | Survivors of Torture, International

Executive Director
Survivors of Torture, International

Kathi Anderson co-founded Survivors of Torture, International (SURVIVORS) in 1997. SURVIVORS’ mission is to facilitate the healing of torture survivors and their families; educate professionals and the public about torture and its consequences; and advocate for torture survivors and the abolition of torture. She served as SURVIVORS’ first board chair before becoming its first executive director.

She has extensive experience in health care, human rights, refugee resettlement and higher education. She is a National Certified Counselor and maintained licensure while in private practice. She received from San Jose State University her MA in Counseling and from the University of the Pacific her BA in International Relations with an emphasis on Latin America. She studied in Mexico and worked in Costa Rica.

Kathi serves as an elected member of the Denmark-based International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims’ Executive Committee and is one of the co-founders and officers of the National Consortium of Torture Treatment Programs. She holds a public seat on California’s State Advisory Council on Refugee Assistance and Services. She also currently serves on the advisory boards for the Hopi Foundation’s Barbara Chester Award and San Diego State University School of Social Work.

Previously, she founded Lutheran Social Services of Idaho as well as served on the national boards of directors of Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service and Amnesty International USA.

Kathi is passionate about the field of torture treatment having devoted most of her professional life to facilitating the healing of survivors of torture and severe trauma

Facilitator

Annie Guo VanDan, MBA | NNED National Facilitation Center

NNED Virtual Roundtable Coordinator
NNED National Facilitation Center

Annie Guo VanDan works with diverse communities to provide training and consultation focused on health equity and community engagement. She previously worked at the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment in the Office of Health Equity and Maternal and Child Health. Her background is in strategic communications, leadership, equity, and inclusion. With an MBA in Health Administration from CU Denver, she formerly managed operations for a nonprofit health clinic in Denver that provides medical and mental health services to refugee and immigrant populations. She enjoys hiking, playing tennis, and spending time with her husband and their two daughters.