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Native Americans have the highest rates of suicide of any racial or ethnic group in the United States. During the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, a National Council for Mental Wellbeing survey found that 45% of Native American adults said they’d had more stress and mental health challenges, while only 24% had received treatment for mental health.

While Native Americans have high suicide rates and unique cultural challenges, programs aimed at prevention have seldom been designed for their specific needs.

Zero Suicide is a generalized suicide program that first launched in 2012, promoting the adoption of “zero suicide” as a goal across U.S. health care systems. It has since mobilized the field of suicide care worldwide.

The program uses seven elements, including assessment of suicide risk, collaboration with patients on safety plans, suicide-specific treatment, and follow-up care. It also expands suicide prevention training for health care workers and engages the broader community, including family members of those receiving care.

This model has been shown to work in the general population but has not been validated for Native communities. Research about effective suicide prevention in Native communities is sparse, says Sadé Heart of the Hawk Ali, tribal lead and senior project associate for the Zero Suicide Institute in Waltham, MA.

Read more at WebMD.com.

Asian Americans are the fastest-growing racial or ethnic group in the United States but remain severely underrepresented in the area of maternal mental health (MMH). Until recently, there had been no Asian-American and Pacific Islander (AAPI)-specific MMH resources and very limited research on MMH and the AAPI population. That’s why the mental health app Expectful has created a new set of resources specifically for Asian-American moms dealing with maternal mental health disorders with Cindy Herrick, Strategic Partnerships & National Campaigns Lead for 2020 Mom, MMH patient expert and advocate, and Certified Peer Support Specialist in Maternal Mental Health.

Along with Dr. Deepika Goyal, PhD, FNP, professor at The Valley Foundation School of Nursing, nurse practitioner at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center, and a leading researcher on MMH, Cindy has joined Expectful in working to raise awareness about the AAPI community and MMH disorders. Together, Cindy and Deepika share their maternal mental health experiences and how they became advocates: Cindy in the area of policy and awareness building and Deepika with her research efforts.

Years ago, maternal mental health was often a siloed and taboo topic. Advocates were simply fighting to have MMH mainstreamed and to be heard as a collective. However, as the topic of MMH has been normalized and thankfully made its way into mainstream discussions, the time has come to talk about Asian moms and MMH. The growing AAPI population and the recent influx of stressors for the AAPI population create an urgent need for a call to action to fund more resources, research, and the development of culturally-sensitive interventions. With adequate resources, support and funding, we can all work to promote the health and welfare of Asian mothers and help them and their families thrive.

Read more at Mother.ly.

Two years into the pandemic, Black people in the U.S. still face wide health disparities in the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the economic and social fallouts, compared to other racial groups.

The new report from the Black Coalition Against COVID comes as hospitalization rates for Black Americans were recently the highest they’ve been since the pandemic’s start.

“As we reflect on two years of lived experience and myriad data sources, we know COVID-19’s toll on Black Americans is ongoing,” Dr. Marcella Nunez-Smith, the director of the Office for Health Equity Research at Yale University, said.

“This report draws attention to the continued disproportionate burden experienced by members of the Black community and will help guide advocacy and policy efforts to address these inequities — both during the current pandemic and beyond,” she said.

The researchers also highlight that Black Americans are facing significant behavioral health challenges as a result of COVID-19. Black Americans are more likely to report experiencing anxiety and depression because of the pandemic, and substance use disorders have also increased.

One study cited in the report found that opioid overdoses increased among Black people in Philadelphia by as much as 52.1% between January 2019 and June 2020. Overdoses decreased 24% among white people in that same time frame.

Read more at NPR.org.

In order to highlight pockets of excellence across the country, the NNED selects a partner organization to highlight once a month. Western Tidewater Community Services Board has been selected as the Partner of the Month for July in celebration of National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month.

Established in 1971, Western Tidewater Community Services Board (WTCSB) is the single point of entry for access to mental health services, developmental disabilities support, and substance abuse services for Franklin and Suffolk and the counties of Isle of Wight and Southampton.

WTCSB provides integrated services and relief for multiple mental health needs, as well as support for individuals with developmental disabilities, and advocacies related to overcoming substance abuse – all in one place. They also offer a variety of behavioral/mental health training to the public that provides valuable resources and tools for those affected, directly and indirectly, by mental health and substance abuse challenges. WTCSB also strives to respect cultural differences and partners with community efforts to advocate for racial and cultural parity.

Some of the programs and services that are currently offered:

• Mental Health Counseling
• Case Management
• Veteran Services
• Alcohol Safety Action Program
• Functional Family Therapy

Learn more about Western Tidewater Community Services Board and its mission to provide a coordinated system of quality, recovery-oriented care to the citizens they serve.

View a list of previous NNED Partners of the Month.

President Biden offered both consolations and a call to reject racism, extremism and white supremacy Tuesday during a visit to Buffalo. The president delivered his remarks less than 72 hours after a white supremacist allegedly shot 13 people, killing 10, in an attack on African Americans in the city. Special correspondent Cat Wise reports from Buffalo.

President Biden and the first lady, hand in hand, paid their respects at the makeshift memorial outside of Tops supermarket, then met privately with families of the 10 victims killed during a racist rampage at the site in an eastern neighborhood of Buffalo, New York.

The president condemned the gunman for his targeted pursuit of Black people in the store.

Read more at PBS.org.

This July, the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) honors Bebe Moore Campbell National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month — designated in 2008 by the U.S. House of Representatives — by advocating for underserved groups to have early access to quality mental health care.

While mental health conditions can affect anyone regardless of background, culture, or identity, the experience of racial trauma and ongoing discrimination can cause and significantly worsen symptoms. Additionally, communities of color face added barriers to mental health care, such as cultural stigma, lack of available mental health professionals, and inadequate community-based treatment options. This is something we must change — mental health conditions don’t discriminate, and neither should our mental health care system.

“We cannot ignore the intersection of race, identity, and mental health,” said NAMI CEO Daniel H. Gillison Jr. “Racism is a public health crisis and has a lasting psychological impact on communities of color across the country. We need systemic change and inclusive solutions to dismantle barriers to quality mental health care and to increase access to culturally competent providers and resources for every community.”

Together, we can raise mental health awareness in communities of color. We can weaken cultural stigma by reinforcing the idea that reaching out for help is a sign of strength, not weakness — and, with support, people with mental health conditions can live healthy, fulfilling lives.

Fundamentally, health care professionals need education on the role and impact of implicit racial and ethnic bias, which is at the heart of the ongoing health disparities faced by people of color. Changing these ingrained attitudes and behaviors is essential to eradicate systemic and institutional racism and to ensure access to quality mental health care for all.

NAMI encourages everyone to join us to raise awareness for the July 16 launch of 988, a nationwide mental health and suicide crisis response system. NAMI sees 988 as a step in the right direction by providing a mental health response to a mental health crisis while reducing law enforcement involvement with people in crisis. By connecting people directly to community-based mental health services, the long-term goal is to end the needless cycling of people through ERs and jails, which are ill-equipped to handle ongoing mental health care.

Read more at PRNewsWire.com.