News

Keiki O Ka `Aina Ho’ohiki Pilina Program is teaching teens 14 to 18 about healthy relationships, with a $100 Amazon gift card as an incentive for completing the course.

The Ho’ohiki Pilina Program (HPP) is an online class on healthy relationships and pregnancy prevention for youth on Oahu ages 14 – 18. Classes start with an orientation on Monday followed by four sessions, Tuesday through Friday. Classes are offered various times throughout the day since teens have very different schedules now that schools are either online or partially in-person.

“The program helps teens develop healthy relationships,” explains Aaron Larson, Operations Coordinator, Ho`ohiki Pilina Program, KOKA. “Unhealthy relationships, dating violence, and risky sexual behaviors are a serious threat to the well-being and futures of many young people.”

Ho`ohiki Pilina utilizes Love Notes, a federally approved curriculum that addresses these issues by building conflict resolution and coping skills for healthy relationships of all kinds: romantic, friendship, family, school, and work.

Read more at KHON2.com.

A 2019 study found that in the U.S., Latinos access mental health care at nearly half the rate of non-Hispanic white people. Shame and stigma play a huge role in discouraging folks from seeking mental health support in our communities — not to mention talking about it with loved ones.

As hard as it can be to bring up, there’s power and freedom that comes from feeling safe in your mind and your body, and at home. The more aware you are of your specific mental health struggles and needs, the better you will be able to communicate those needs to others. To start, understand that mental health isn’t stagnant and can change as your life changes. How you understood your mental health before might not be how you understand it now.

After you have a better understanding of your mental health, the next step is to establish why you want to talk about it with your family. You may not feel that sharing this part of your life is important, and that’s OK. But for those who do, this step is essential.

For others, they want to talk about mental health at home because it helps to normalize the conversation as well as break down stigmas. Have you ever heard “el dicho,” “la ropa sucia se lava en casa” (don’t air your dirty laundry in public) or heard a family member shaming a relative with a diagnosis by calling them “loco”? These are all cultural stigmas prevalent in the Latino community.

And while it’s easy to laugh about — and maybe even bond over — these shared traumas, we can’t deny the real-world implications these ideas have on our collective well-being. It’s through open and honest conversations with the people around us that we can help shatter these outdated narratives.

Read more at KQED.org.

The Chinese American Service League has launched a mental health services program in Chinatown.

The agency’s Behavioral Health and Clinical Services program will provide mental health evaluations, psychotherapy, and crisis response, among other services, according to a news release.

The Chinese American Service League created the program to address rising rates of mental health issues affecting people in the community, as rising levels of anti-Asian hate and pandemic anxiety and depression have affected Asian American and Pacific Islander communities, according to the news release.

The program will complement work from other area mental health programs. And its offerings will grow “to best meet the needs of the families and individuals it will serve,” according to the Chinese American Service League.

Clients will be able to use the program’s services in person, virtually, or through telehealth appointments.

Read more at BlockClubChicago.org.

The Office of National Drug Control Policy identified the Qualla Boundary, the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians’ (EBCI) 56,000-acre homeland just south of Smoky Mountains National Park, as one of 10 “high-intensity drug trafficking areas” in the country. Following a two-year undercover investigation targeting drug traffickers, federal, state, and local law enforcement authorities raided the Boundary, arrested 132 people. The operation was touted as a huge success and a possible turning point in the scourge that had plagued the community.

Instead of improving, the community’s drug problems only got worse. Drug-related crimes and addiction rates continued apace and, like everywhere else in the state, grew worse during the pandemic. Statewide, deaths from drug overdoses increased more than 25 percent in the first six months of the pandemic, according to CDC data. Almost immediately, the lockdown on the Boundary led to a dramatic increase in fatal and non-fatal drug overdoses.

There is a growing acknowledgement among treatment and drug policy experts that real solutions must center around prevention and treatment which include mental health counseling, medication-assisted treatment (MAT), as well as the time and support needed to recover.

American Indians represent just 1.2 percent of North Carolina’s population, but the 2020 drug overdose rate was 2.3 times higher for them than the white people in the state. To address this crisis, the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians oversees and operates its own public health care system and provides some of the most extensive substance use and mental health care of any tribe in the nation without copays or deductibles.

Read more NorthCarolinaHealthNews.org.

Mental health coach Paige Gaines is sharing her story as part of A Different Cry, a three-part docuseries and investigation into Black youth and suicide by WXIA in Atlanta.

“The numbers have continued to rise since about 2016, 2017,” Gaines says, noting studies based on recent CDC figures, which were highlighted in a 2021 study published in the Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry. “That’s what led me to this. African American men, African American boys are more likely to attempt suicide than white men and white boys. African American females and African American young girls are attempting higher as well. So, it’s been a continuous rise in numbers.”

Yet discussing suicide and therapy remains taboo within the Black community. It’s a challenge that Gaines — who works with Mental Health America of Georgia as a Certified Peer Specialist — wants to overcome.

Asked what concerned friends and family should do if they suspect that a loved one is feeling suicidal, she has a simple solution — just ask them.

“There’s a myth that if you ask it, you’re implanting that idea in their mind and that’s not true,” Gaines says. “You’re actually creating some relief for them. You’re saying, ‘Hey, I see you. I see that you’re struggling and I’m just wondering if you’re thinking of not wanting to be here anymore.'”

“[By asking] that question, you’re able to offer that individual resources, immediately asking them what they need,” she adds. “You’re able to step in before they have an attempt and potentially save a life. I’ve never had the experience of somebody being offended by me asking that question.”

Read more at People.com.

JT Liddell enlisted into the military in 2003. After spending a decade in the service and doing defense contracting work, Liddell transitioned out of the military. He found the obstacles challenging to overcome. A few months before the COVID-19 pandemic, Liddell founded a tech startup called Promenade. The company, based in Atlanta, aims to connect veterans nationwide with organizations that offer resources to help them transition to civilian life.

“I’ve really made it my life’s mission to help veterans coming behind me have a much more seamless journey,” Liddell said. “It’s really ensuring that each veteran is aware of all those different resources out there and making sure you get them connected to the ones that work specifically for them and their individual journey.”

Despite the pandemic limiting face-to-face operations, Liddell said his company got a big boost when awarded a $100,000 grant from Google. The tech giant offered 25 grants this year to minority business owners across the country. Liddell said Promenade has already helped hundreds of veterans with its growing database of available groups and resources. The founder said he wanted the company to primarily target minority veterans first, explaining their struggles tend to be magnified.

“Veterans who are suffering the most in their post-military journey are really minority veterans, specifically Black veterans,” Liddell said. “The pandemic, from a mental health standpoint, really exasperated the pain veterans were going through because they really were isolated and didn’t have that sense of community they were really longing for.”

Read more at 11Alive.com.