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How Recruiting Men as Ambassadors Can Combat Stigma about Mental Health in the Asian Community

February 10, 2017

A national research project has recruited more than 500 Toronto men of Asian descent to help reduce the stigma of mental illness in the Asian community. The three-year project, Strength in Unity, has trained the men to act as community ambassadors to talk about mental health and speak out against stigma. Josephine Wong, an associate profession at Ryerson University’s school of nursing and a co-principal investigator of the project, said the project is helping to dispel the myths around mental illness.

“The response has actually been pretty amazing,” Wong told Metro Morning on Monday. “In the past, there has been a lot of research focused on immigrant women’s mental health and depression, but we actually didn’t understand what is faced by men,” she said. “Through this study, we actually understand what are the challenges faced by Asian men of different ages.”

Nearly half of the men involved in the project have lived with or been affected by mental illness. The men range in age from 17 to 85. In some cases, they have formed their own men’s groups on the subject. The men undergo two types of training before becoming ambassadors. The first, acceptance and commitment, involves discussing stereotypes, recognizing values and expressing compassion. The second, contact-based empowerment, involves acquiring skills in health promotion, meeting caregivers and people with mental illness, and speaking out on the issue.

The idea is to educate the person, then the community. Through the training, the men are encouraged to move beyond traditional roles and to take a more active role in taking care of their own family members.

Read more on CBC.ca.

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The NNED has been a multi-agency funded effort with primary funding by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). It is managed by SAMHSA and the Achieving Behavioral Health Excellence (ABHE) Initiative.
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