News

A new Center for Pacific Innovations, Knowledge, and Opportunities (PIKO) to improve the health and wellbeing of Indigenous Pacific People (IPP) is being established with the help of a $15 million, five-year grant from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS). PIKO is focused on Native Hawaiians, other Pacific Islanders, and Filipinos. These communities comprise 40% of the state’s population and have disproportionately higher rates of physical ailments and mental health conditions, compared to Caucasian and Asian people in Hawaiʻi.

PIKO will be led by Joseph Keaweʻaimoku Kaholokula, professor and chair of Native Hawaiian health, and Neal A. Palafox, professor of family medicine and community health, of the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa John A. Burns School of Medicine (JABSOM). This Institutional Development Award Networks for Clinical and Translational Research center at NIGMS represents a partnership between UH Mānoa, Hawaiʻi Pacific University, Chaminade University, and a statewide network of community-based organizations.

“This is an unprecedented partnership and initiative in Hawaiʻi to support talented junior researchers in doing culturally responsive and community-engaged research to improve the health and wellbeing of Native Hawaiians, Pacific Islanders, Filipinos, and other health disparate populations,” said Kaholokula.

PIKO will take a team-science approach to transform current research paradigms to accelerate clinical and translational research to improve IPP health. There are seven core components to PIKO: administrative; professional development; pilot projects program; biostatistics, epidemiology, and research design; community engagement and outreach; clinical research and regulatory support; and tracking and evaluation.

Read more at Hawaii.edu.

Mental health conditions exist within all populations. However, certain factors may increase their prevalence in Hispanic communities. Some elements of Hispanic culture may prevent or exacerbate symptoms of depression. Additionally, barriers may exist that prevent people from accessing adequate mental health services and support.

Familismo is a large component of Hispanic culture that emphasizes the importance of family relationships. Research on this concept is inconclusive, as some sources note that it results in more depressive symptoms, while others suggest it acts as a protective buffer against depression.

A 2019 study suggests a possible explanation depending on the strength of the familial connections. For example, those who hold stronger beliefs toward support have better mental health outcomes. However, those that experience conflict exhibit more symptoms of depression. Having numerous obligations and mounting pressure within the family unit may contribute to depressive symptoms.

There is a perception in some Hispanic communities that it is inappropriate, embarrassing, or shameful to discuss mental health problems. Potential stigmatization may cause people to try and conceal symptoms of depression due to a fear of ostracism. Some people may also worry about potential consequences of depression, which they fear may make them unable to support their family and undesirable.

As a result, many people may be less likely to discuss any difficulties. Additionally, as they may have little information on support, they may not actively seek treatment.

Cultural differences may lead to misunderstandings and misdiagnoses regarding mental health. It may also cause people to experience culture-bound syndromes, which refers to mental health conditions unique to specific cultural populations. For example, Hispanic people may use phrases such as “ataque de nervios” to describe symptoms of intense emotion or “mal de ojo” which refers to a hostile gaze that may cause people to experience symptoms of depression.

Read more at MedicalNewsToday.com.

Asian American Olympians representing the United States are competing for gold in Tokyo as Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders are targets of violence and bigotry back home. Advocates say the anti-Asian hate is taking a mental health toll on Asian Americans, and Asian American athletes are entering the games under the added pressure of competing in Asia before a worldwide audience.

At least two Asian American athletes say they experienced episodes of bigotry as they prepared to compete in the Olympics and as other Asian Americans have encountered assaults linked to anti-Asian hate.

Karate athlete Sakura Kokumai, a Hawaii-born woman to Japanese immigrants, told a recent USA Today virtual forum that she endured racist slurs and verbal harassment before going for a run in a park. Gymnast Yul Moldauer, born in Seoul and adopted by American parents as an infant, told the same forum he was recently cut off in traffic by a motorist who then yelled at him: go back to China.

Snowboarder Chloe Kim, a first-generation Korean American and an Olympic halfpipe gold medalist, said she has received hateful Instagram direct messages that have taken a toll on her mental health.

Anti-Asian hate crimes reported to police in the U.S.’s largest cities jumped 189% in the first quarter of 2021 compared to the same period of time in 2020, according to the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University, San Bernardino.

Read more at Axios.com.

In July, Oklahoma expanded free Medicaid coverage to an additional 200,000 low-income adults, including many tribal members, after voters passed a ballot initiative compelling the state to do so.

“They’ve had to choose between getting the specialty health care they need and feeding their family,” said Rhonda Beaver, the chief administrative officer for the Muscogee (Creek) Nation’s Health Department. “This Medicaid expansion helps our Native American people who had to make those choices.” Since the expansion took effect on July 1, more than 23,000 eligible Native Americans have enrolled in the program, according to state officials — about 13 percent of the total 171,056 people who have signed up statewide.

The Indian Health Service is chronically underfunded, and Indigenous Oklahomans disproportionately lack insurance coverage. For Native Americans, the death rates for preventable diseases, like addiction, diabetes and liver disease, are three to five times higher than for any other race.

For Jonathan Martin, 37, his family of five in Park Hill, Okla., lost their health insurance after he was laid off from his job in March because of the pandemic. Soon after, Mr. Martin, a diabetic, contracted Covid-19 and nearly died following a weeklong stint in the hospital with pneumonia and weakening kidneys.

His wife, Adrian Martin, 30, said her husband recovered but the mental strain that the virus had caused left him needing behavioral health treatment. He was afraid to leave his home for fear of catching the virus again and dying, she said. Without insurance, Ms. Martin said, they were unable to find him the help he needed in the tribal health care system, which she said had a long waiting list for such care.

After qualifying for Medicaid expansion, Ms. Martin was able to obtain free coverage for her family and get her husband into therapy.

Read more at NYTimes.com.

The COVID-19 pandemic, racial unrest, and police brutality over the past year-plus have all contributed to increased reports of anxiety and depression in the United States. The trauma experienced as a result of these tumultuous events has elevated conversations about mental health in the Black community, where the topic was once largely taboo.

It’s never been clearer that prioritizing our mental health is a must, but for many Black Americans, social and structural systemic factors have been barriers to getting mental health care. In the second year of #BlackHealthFacts, which was launched on Juneteenth 2020, Everyday Health examines these issues to raise awareness and help influence change.

Patrice Harris, MD, a psychiatrist and Everyday Health’s medical editor in chief at large, examines the stigma associated with mental illness, mistrust of the healthcare system, and other factors that have prevented Black Americans from receiving appropriate treatment in the past, and looks at how to make mental health as important as physical health.

Read more at EverydayHealth.com.

In the past year, teenagers watched major milestones evaporate before their eyes, while also missing out on all the small moments that make the teen years unique. Mental health professionals said teens are particularly vulnerable to emotional instability, and they have experienced the pain of the pandemic more deeply than other age groups.

While they lost many typical teen experiences, the last year also had young people cooped up with stressed-out parents working from home. Others saw their parents lose jobs that offered health insurance with coverage for counseling, at a time when they might need it the most.

Clinical psychologist Joseph Troiani, director of behavioral health programs for the Will County Health Department, said the world stopped for teens when the pandemic hit, at an age when they’re developing skill sets to maturely manage their emotions.

“These human beings are still growing and developing. The most recent research shows that an individual’s brain is not fully developed until the age of about 23,” Troiani said. Since the beginning of the pandemic, Troiani said state health divisions collectively report a 34% increase in people taking anti-anxiety medications, an 18% increase in antidepressant use, and a 14% increase in medications prescribed for sleeplessness. Those statistics reflect use by people of all age groups, including teens.

At a time when life should be moving forward for teenagers, they’re unable to advance, Breese said, partially because right now they lack the outlets — classes, clubs, sports, and social time — to develop the self-identity they seek.

Read more at ChicagoTribune.com.