News

U.S. Migration Surge Draws Attention to Mental Health Care

November 13, 2024

The arrival of nearly 215,000 migrants into New York City since the spring of 2022 has placed significant demands on mental health service agencies and community organizations that were already stretched thin by COVID-19. A study led by researchers at the City University of New York (CUNY), for example, found that rates of mental health problems among Harlem residents were two to three times higher in 2021 than they were before the pandemic, people living in low-income housing facing twice as many barriers to health care than those living in market-rate housing.

NYC Health + Hospitals responded to the influx of asylum seekers by opening an arrival center in May 2023 as part of Mayor Eric Adam’s Blueprint to Address New York City’s Response to the Asylum Seeker Crisis. Based in the Roosevelt Hotel in Midtown Manhattan, it provided medical, social, and resettlement services to nearly 150,000 people from more than 160 countries in its first year. Additionally, arrival center staff have used the patient health questionnaire to screen more than 130,000 migrants age 12 and older for depression since May 2024, those showing symptoms being then further assessed and provided with referrals to necessary care.

Harlem Strong and ENGAGE are two New York City–based efforts that are bringing people together and adapting models originally developed to provide mental health services to people in low- or middle-income countries for use in an urban context.

Harlem Strong is a collaboration led by the CUNY Center for Innovation in Mental Health, Harlem Congregations for Community Improvement, Harlem Health Initiative, and Healthfirst Managed Care, the state’s largest nonprofit health insurer. ENGAGE partners Columbia University Irving Medical Center’s Department of Psychiatry, the New York State Office of Mental Health, and three community-based organizations: Acacia Network, S:US (Services for the Underserved), and African Services Committee.

Both efforts train non–health-care staff at community-based organizations to identify people with behavioral health needs and either provide or refer them to necessary services.

Food Insecurity and Mental Health Crisis Among Concerns for Latino College Students

November 11, 2024

Latino college students face significant barriers across the United States, according to UnidosUS, the largest Latino civil rights and advocacy organization who released a new national survey on Tuesday. Among the 3,000 Hispanic students between the ages of 18 and 35 surveyed, the study highlighted systemic and institutional obstacles that these students face while navigating higher education.

The UnidosUS survey was conducted by BSP Research, an independent national survey company, between Aug. 16 and Sept. 25, 2024. All respondents completed the survey online and it was available in English and Spanish.

One of the key findings of the study is that Latino students are aspirational, viewing college as a gateway toward better paying jobs and a way to provide a better life for their families. However, a staggering 85 percent of Latino students said they struggle with food insecurity. These challenges were consistent across those enrolled at two-year colleges and four-year institutions. Among the Latino students who faced food insecurity, 45 percent of students sought access through Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits.

Diverse: Issues In Higher Education

Students
Faculty & Staff
Leadership & Policy
Podcasts
Top 100
Advertise
Jobs
Shop
Enjoy this free article.
Create a free Diverse: Issues In Higher Education account to continue reading

your@email.com
Demographics
Latinx
Survey: Food Insecurity and Mental Health Crisis Among Concerns for Latino College Students
Angela Dennis
Oct 22, 2024

“Each year nearly one million Latino students turn 18 years of age and graduate from high school. Most aspire to go to college, knowing that higher education is a key that unlocks the door to a better and more enriching life,” said Eric Rodriguez, senior vice president of policy and advocacy at UnidosUS. “But too many find that college is no escape from the struggle against poverty and food insecurity. We must invest in supporting these students to ensure that higher education can deliver on its promise.”

Rodriguez said that it was critically important to create opportunities for Latinos—who now make up one in five students at the postsecondary level—to thrive in college.

According to the survey, 72% of Latino students said that they worry that the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling on affirmative action could lead to a decrease in the number of Latinx students being admitted into college. Additionally, a number of students, particularly those from low-income backgrounds, admitted to experiencing feelings of isolation while on campus.

A bright spot of the survey indicated that 84% of students surveyed felt a sense of belonging while on campus, while 24 percent of students who dropped out mentioned a lack of belonging as a contributing factor. Notably, students from lower-income backgrounds were more inclined to feel like outsiders. The study also highlighted that over half of the students, (53 %) noticed the presence of free-speech and diversity programs on campus, while nearly half (47%) observed restrictions on topics in classes. About two-thirds (66%) of Latino students considered leaving college at some point, with one-third (34%) saying they had to take a leave of absence for a variety of reasons.

1 in 3 U.S. Students Experience Racism at School: It’s Affecting Mental Health

November 8, 2024

Students who experienced racism said their mental health also deteriorated, a new study showed.

In 2023, nearly a third of high school students across the U.S. said they had experienced racism in school, which Centers for Disease Control and Prevention researchers who published the findings defined as unfair treatment due to a person’s race or ethnicity. Students of color reported they had had two to three times more racist experiences than white students who said they’d had.

These experiences resulted in students having more mental health issues and a greater risk of suicide and substance use than students who had never had them. The findings amplify concerns among experts and officials about the youth mental health crisis, particularly with an increasingly nonwhite student population in the U.S.

CDC researchers drew from the nationwide Youth Risk Behavior Survey completed by public and private school students every two years in grades 9 through 12. The 2023 survey of more than 20,000 students listed a new question asking teens whether they had ever experienced racism perpetrated by students, educators or others. The study didn’t ask whether the interaction was with a peer or involved a school disciplinary policy, such as bans on traditionally Black hairstyles.

Asian students were the most likely to experience racism, nearly 57% reported incidents, followed by 49% of multiracial students and almost 46% of Black students. About 39% of Hispanic, 38% of American Indian and Alaska Native, and nearly 38% of Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander students said they experienced racism. Around 17% of white students described similar experiences. Among people of color, female and LGBTQ students were more likely to experience racism than their classmates.

Overall, poor mental health, suicide risk and substance use were consistently higher among students who reported experiencing racism than among those who never had. Indigenous, Asian, Black, Hispanic and multiracial students who said they experienced racism also had persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness, compared with peers who didn’t. White students who had experienced racism also had feelings of sadness or hopelessness.

Asian Health Center Tries Unconventional Approach to Counseling

November 6, 2024

In her first months as a community health worker, Jee Hyo Kim helped violent crime survivors access supportive services and resources. When a client with post-traumatic stress disorder sought a therapist, she linked him to one that fit his needs. She helped clients afraid to leave their homes obtain food delivery vouchers. As one client described her, Kim was a “connector.”

Then, Kim learned to go further. Through a training program, she gained the know-how and confidence to provide emotional support. She learned evidence-based mental health counseling skills such as asking open-ended questions. She also discovered that some things she was already doing, such as listening attentively and restating what she hears, are core to communicating empathy — a vital component of a successful relationship between a client and their mental health provider.

Asian Health Services, where Kim works, is a part of a fledgling movement trying to address a dire shortage of therapists by training community health workers and other nonlicensed professionals who have trusted relationships with their communities to add mental health counseling to their roles. This approach, already implemented abroad and proven to help address some common mental health conditions, is called lay counseling.

The Oakland-based community health center serves mostly low-income Asian immigrants who speak limited English. As a community health worker, Kim now also practices lay counseling under a licensed therapist’s supervision. She does not have a license, but as a Korean immigrant and strong-arm robbery survivor, she shares lived experiences with many of the people she serves, enabling her to build trust.

Concerned that people were falling through the cracks, the health center in 2021 launched a grant-funded initiative to support victims of violence. In addition to lay counseling and therapy by licensed providers, available in several languages, the program, known as the Community Healing Unit, provides services such as helping clients access crime victim funds.

The program has sent 43 community health workers, case managers, and other employees to a lay counseling training program, said Ben Wang, the health center’s director of special initiatives. Trainees learn through formal instruction, observing teachers providing counseling, and practicing counseling with one another, along with feedback from instructors.

LGBTQ+ Women Face Disproportionate Rates of Mental Health Issues and Barriers to Care

November 4, 2024

A leading national survey finds that 22% of LGBTQ+ women respondents have attempted suicide, and 66% reported seeking treatment for trauma.

“The trauma burden in this community is enormous,” said Jaime Grant, one of the researchers who conducted the survey.

These findings are included in a report released Tuesday from the Urvashi Vaid National LGBTQ+ Women’s Community Survey, named after the late lesbian activist. The report comes from analysis of a national survey of 5,000 LGBTQ+ respondents who previously or currently identify as a woman, conducted between June 2021 and June 2022.

The analysis finds that LGBTQ+ women experience substantial health disparities, mental illness and barriers to care.

These findings come more than a decade after Grant’s earlier research found that transgender people had attempted suicide at a rate nine times higher than the national average. Grant, who also led the National Transgender Discrimination Survey in 2011, said those data helped improve medical treatment for transgender people. She hopes this report will do the same for LGBTQ+ women.

The survey also sought to identify barriers to health care for LGBTQ+ women. Research shows that 77% of the U.S. population has a primary care physician, but just over half of LGBTQ+ women in the survey reported being under the care of one. Respondents of color were twice as likely to say they lacked access to quality health care.

Respondents cited cost and discrimination as the leading reasons for why they put off or didn’t seek out medical care when they were sick or in need. Dyar says there’s been limited research done to determine what exactly limits access to care for LGBTQ+ women.

While the Urvashi Vaid National LGBTQ+ Women’s Community Survey has been led by community activists and researchers, it’s moving to a more prominent organization in an effort to boost its reach and impact. The survey will now be housed at the National Center for Lesbian Rights, the group announced on Tuesday.

CMS-Approved Waivers Break New Ground for Medicaid Coverage of American Indian and Alaska Native Traditional Health Care Practices

November 1, 2024

On October 16, 2024, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) approved 1115 waivers in four states — Arizona, California, New Mexico, and Oregon — that, for the first time, allow state Medicaid agencies to cover American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) traditional health care practices. These waiver approvals aim to support sovereign Tribal governments in providing health care services reflective of individual Tribes’ cultures and healing knowledge. In each of the four states and at the federal level, the waivers and the terms of the approvals were developed in partnership with Tribal leaders through formal Tribal consultation processes, public comment periods, and advisory groups.

Traditional health care practices, also known as traditional healing or traditional medicine, are a form of culturally centered care that has been shown to improve health and well-being, especially behavioral health and quality of life. This care can be offered as standalone services or alongside conventional Western (also known as allopathic) medical treatments to provide a multifaceted approach to health and well-being. Some traditional health care practices may be used across many cultures. For example, commonly offered traditional practices in Native American communities include talking circles, sweat lodges, and smudging. However, many other healing practices are unique to individual Native nations and locations. Because of the wide variability in traditional health care practices and the sometimes religious or spiritual meaning of these practices, the waiver approvals do not include a specific list of covered traditional healing services. Instead, the facilities providing these services can choose what to offer based on what will best meet the needs of the communities they serve.

All Medicaid benefits for AI/AN people received through IHS and Tribal facilities are paid for with a 100 percent federal match, in recognition of the federal trust responsibility to provide health care to Native people. This means states will receive a 100 percent federal match for traditional health care practices received by AI/AN people through IHS and Tribal facilities and UIOs that have care coordination agreements with IHS or Tribal facilities. States will receive their standard federal match for non‑AI/AN, IHS-eligible people who are receiving traditional health care practices.

The groundbreaking approval of these waivers has the potential to improve outcomes and decrease health disparities for Native people served by Medicaid, by improving access to culturally centered health care practices that have been used over many generations. Tribal and state leaders in Arizona, California, New Mexico, and Oregon are gearing up for implementation. Across the country, these approvals create a blueprint for other states to work in partnership with Tribal leaders to design and submit their own waivers.