News

National Women’s Health Week is an observance led by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office on Women’s Health. The goal is to empower women to make their health a priority. The week also serves as a time to encourage women to take steps to improve their health. The 18th annual National Women’s Health Week kicks off on Mother’s Day, May 14, and is celebrated through May 20, 2017.

You too can participate in National Women’s Health Week:

• Spread the word through social media with our easy-to-use resources. Use the #NWHW hashtag.
• Join the National Women’s Health Week Thunderclap.
• Take the National Women’s Health Week quiz to learn about your health style.
• Organize events or activities.
• Learn what steps you should take for good health based on your age on WomensHealth.gov.

Read more on WomensHealth.gov.

During May, we honor the heritage of Asian Americans, Pacific Islanders and Native Hawaiians and celebrate their many contributions to our nation. Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month was first celebrated in 1992. But the origins of this commemoration began with Asian-Pacific Heritage Week in 1977. 

According to the U.S. Census, there are 18.5 million Americans who identify as Asian, Pacific Islander and/or Native Hawaiian. They represent many diverse cultures, languages and customs that are unique to each community.

Asian Americans have a high prevalence of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, hepatitis B, HIV/AIDS, smoking, tuberculosis and liver disease. Some health conditions and risk factors that are prevalent among Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders are hepatitis B, HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis.

Read more on MinorityHealth.gov. Learn about the history of AAPI Heritage Month from the Library of Congress.

The National Hispanic Council on Aging (NHCOA) has issued a call for participants for the Hispanic Caregivers Survey. Hispanic/Latino caregivers are invited to share their insights and recommendations. Results will be presented at the national level, through NHCOA’s annual State of Hispanic Older Adults and their Caregivers.

Complete the survey in English / Complete el cuestionario en español.

Pacific Islanders are persons who trace their roots to the native peoples of Hawaii, Guam, Samoa, or other Pacific Islands. Although they make up the third fastest growing racial group in the U.S., their mental health needs and attitudes regarding mental illness are poorly understood. One reason for this is that discussing mental health problems with others is largely taboo in their cultures. Also, stigma, language barriers, and lack of information about available resources and services complicate Pacific Islanders’ access to mental health services.

To address this clinical gap, Andrew Subica, Ph.D., an assistant professor of social medicine and population health in the School of Medicine at the University of California, Riverside, has received a grant from the National Institute of Mental Health to conduct one of the first studies of mental health and mental illness among Pacific Islanders. The two-year $452,000 grant is titled, “Engaging Pacific Islander Perspectives on Mental Illness and Mental Health Service Engagement.”

“The goal of the study is to capture the perspectives of community-dwelling Pacific Islanders in two large Pacific Islander communities–Samoans in Los Angeles and the Marshallese in Arkansas–in order to develop the first culturally attuned manualized intervention to promote Pacific Islander engagement in mental health services,” said Subica, the grant’s principal investigator and a member of UCR’s Center for Healthy Communities.

Read more on News-Medical.Net.

Following Texas’ 84th legislative session and the implementation of Rider 73, Via Hope set out to develop a curriculum to train Certified Peer Specialists and Certified Recovery Coaches. With support from a grant provided by the Hogg Foundation, this Community Re-Entry Pilot Project provides peer support to help people get support and access much-needed services.

Since 2016, Via Hope has trained nearly two dozen peers to serve specifically in the criminal justice system. The class helps people develop and strengthen peer support skills, and adapt those skills for the jail setting. While the vast majority of these peers have been incarcerated themselves, the training also provides in-depth knowledge of the criminal justice system.

Following Via Hope’s training, peer specialists are assigned to inmates before they’re released to help them access services from local mental health facilities and community programs. Peer specialists are essential to help people with mental health conditions navigate this tenuous time. Once certified, they work in jails, forensic psychiatric hospitals, and other settings throughout Texas.

The value of peer support has been well established in a variety of settings. For those re-entering the community following jail time, these specialized peers—people with lived experience in both behavioral health and incarceration—can pick up the individual as he or she is released, get them into supportive services more quickly, provide a supportive environment and increase accountability. A report from the Center for Public Policy Priorities makes the case for putting state funding toward programs in county jails to pair incarcerated persons who have mental illness with someone who’s gone through a recovery process. This idea has attracted support from around the country and throughout Texas.

Beyond the benefits to the individual in terms of access to care and personal support, peer support can help lower recidivism, decrease crime and drug abuse, and even ease stresses on prison staff. Read more 

Read more on UTexas.edu.

There are weeks when Xavier McMillon, 23, knows he can rely on a friend to put him up for a night or two. But there are far too many other days when the Houston Community College student scrambles to find a place to stay or money to eat. It wasn’t always like this, he said. A few months ago, he was sharing an apartment with his best friend and holding down a job. But a dispute over mold infestation got them evicted, and too many sick days because McMillon couldn’t afford his HIV meds got him fired.

“Right now it’s real hard to try to go to school, try to get a job and try to find a place,” said McMillon, who is taking the semester off. “I try not to let a lot of people know about everything that’s going on with me. I don’t like people having to worry.”

Many students suffer the same housing and food insecurity that plagues McMillon, and a new study from the Wisconsin HOPE Lab, in collaboration with the Association of Community College Trustees (ACCT), shows that the problem is more widespread than people might suspect.

In a survey of more than 33,000 students at 70 community colleges across the country, researchers found that 14 percent were homeless, and one in three were going hungry while pursuing a degree. The findings lay bare the reality of a population of students who remain largely invisible on college campuses.

Homelessness and hunger among college students is prevalent in all regions of the country and is not isolated to urban or high-poverty areas, according to the report. Students with children were more likely to experience food and housing insecurity than those without. Nearly a third of students going without food or shelter held jobs and received financial aid, and many work long hours at low-wage, low-quality jobs and get little sleep, the study showed.

Read more on WashingtonPost.com.