News

The New Mexico Indian Affairs Department announced Friday their partnership with Harvard University to conduct research on both behavioral health and sacred sites issues impacting New Mexico’s Nations, Tribes, and Pueblos.

The NMIAD conducted two research projects with two graduate student teams as part of Harvard University’s “Native Americans in the 21st Century: Nation-Building II” course. The teams came from the university’s Harvard Divinity School, Harvard Graduate School of Education, Harvard Kennedy School of Government, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Health, Brandeis University’s The Heller School for Social Policy and Management, and Suffolk University’s Sawyer Business School.

One research team focused on suicide prevention and postvention efforts in tribal communities by way of behavioral health workforce development. Students from that team included members of the Tyme Maidu Tribe and the Mattakeeset Nation.

The second team included members of the Tuscarora Nation and examined the state’s existing legal framework to identify more effective ways to protect and manage tribal sacred sites and cultural resources.

The Nation-Building II course typically ends with a presentation of a comprehensive research paper based on research problem definition, client relationships, and on-site community-based investigation. Due to the pandemic, all investigations, presentations, and report submissions were done virtually. Officials say each project’s findings will help shape and direct the agency’s work in their respective areas.

Read more on KRQE.com.

A new survey from the Commonwealth Fund reveals the disparate impacts of COVID-19 on Black and Latinx people, women, and people with low incomes during the early months of the pandemic. The pandemic has shined a light on existing inequities in the United States and how quickly a crisis exacerbates them.

Latinx and Black people, women, and people with low income are most at risk of mental health concerns because of the pandemic. Many Americans are experiencing mental health problems from COVID-19. But some groups report having stress, anxiety, or great sadness due to the pandemic at higher rates.

Latinx and Black adults have experienced economic hardship during COVID-19 at a rate between two and three times greater than white adults. More than half of Latinx and nearly half of the Black survey respondents said they have struggled economically, and were unable to pay for basic necessities, or used up all their savings or borrowed money — a substantially greater proportion than the 21 percent of white respondents who reported the same.

The 2020 Commonwealth International Health Policy COVID-19 Supplement Survey was conducted by SSRS, a survey research firm, and country contractors, from March 30 to May 25, 2020. The COVID Supplement Survey was part of a larger survey that was in the field from February to June 2020, and was administered to a nationally representative sample of adults ages 18 and older in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States. This study limits the analysis to the U.S. population.

The U.S. sample size was 1,266. Black and Latinx people were oversampled to stratify the analysis by race and ethnicity. Interviews were completed either online or using computer-assisted telephone interviews. The response rate in the U.S. was 14 percent. Data were weighted to ensure that the final outcome was representative of the adult population.

Read more on LatinTimes.com.

A community wellness program is demonstrating the benefits of culturally sensitive mental health care for Cambodian Americans, a group that has struggled to benefit from mainstream services.

Thanks to in-language workshops about mental health and culturally specific social activities, the majority of participants reported reductions in symptoms of depression and past trauma, highlighting the need for such programs in marginalized communities.

The results are significant given the lack of culturally sensitive mental health care programs for Cambodians, said community leaders with the Cambodian American Collective, an association of six organizations in Southern California that conducted the program.

“The reduction of symptoms of past trauma was really important for us,” said Susana Sngiem, executive director of United Cambodian Community of Long Beach, part of the collective. “The strategies that we provide really help our genocide survivors be able to cope with the trauma that they experience.”

Cambodians began migrating to the United States en masse in the 1970s and 1980s after the fall of the Khmer Rouge regime, under which more than 2 million people died. A 2015 study in the journal Psychiatric Services found that 97 percent of its participants — all of whom had lived in Cambodia at some point during the regime — met criteria for post-traumatic stress disorder. The rate surpasses those of the U.S. population as a whole (about 3.5 percent) and of U.S. veterans (12 percent to 30 percent).

The program has four prongs: outreach and engagement to reduce the stigma of mental health issues in the Cambodian community; workshops to educate community members about topics like mental and physical wellness, signs of mental illness and how to cope with stress; case management to provide referrals needed for health and social services; and social support activities, such as Cambodian New Year celebrations, temple visits, water blessings for healing and positive energy, and potlucks.

Sngiem, of United Cambodian Community of Long Beach, said she hopes the practices can be implemented in other Cambodian communities throughout the country.

“Our hope is that with the data we’re collecting that we can show evidence that these social activities are really important to the mental health work in the Cambodian community,” she said.

Read more on NBCNews.com.

Black youth in the U.S. experience more illness, poverty, and discrimination than their White counterparts. These issues put them at higher risk for depression and other mental health problems. Yet Black youth are less likely to seek treatment. About 9 percent of them reported an episode of major depression in the past year, but less than half of those — about 40 percent — received treatment. By comparison, about 46 percent of White youth who reported an episode were treated for depressive symptoms.

Instead, some turn to suicide, now the second leading cause of death among Black children ages 10 to 19. That rate is rising faster for them than any other racial or ethnic group. Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show the rate of suicide attempts for Black adolescents rose 73 percent from 1991 to 2017.

With schools nationwide grappling with how to offer instruction to students, principals and teachers need to be reminded that Black children have endured a distinctive kind of trauma since the pandemic began. They have had a different experience.

Studies suggest Black youth and their families may be less likely to identify their own mental health symptoms. If they do receive referrals for care, they may follow up less often than Whites. Delays in seeking care can lead to negative consequences, including emergency psychiatric hospitalizations and noncompliance with treatment recommendations. These youngsters may then become adults with mental health issues that remain unaddressed.

Parents and caregivers should encourage treatment. But interviews with them done as part of one study revealed they sometimes obstruct the process. Many feared their child would be labeled “crazy.” Those caregivers, sensitive to social stigma, also relied on others in the community when deciding to pursue treatment for their sons. Sometimes they would receive support from those they spoke with; other times, they would not.

Read more on WashingtonPost.com.

In order to highlight pockets of excellence across the country, the NNED selects a partner organization to highlight once a month. Alianza Para Una Comunidad Libre de Drogas has been selected as the Partner of the Month for September to honor National Hispanic Heritage Month.

Based on the Center for Prevention Services Latino Programs Department in North Carolina, Alianza is comprised of dedicated community members. They strive to create and sustain drug-free change by identifying community needs, serving as a resource, and providing leadership and capacity building opportunities for adults and youth. They focus on raising awareness of substance misuse concerns and implementing evidence-based strategies to reduce youth access to and misuse alcohol, marijuana, and prescription drugs. Their mission is to use environmental strategies, education, and community collaboration to create change and prevent substance use among Latino youth in Charlotte-Mecklenburg.

Alianza also has partnerships with the local public school system Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, Student Assistance Program Counselors to bring Familia Adelante to Mecklenburg County, NC.

The initiatives that Alianza is currently supporting and participating in:

• Alianza Youth
• Youth Drug Survey
• Preventing Underage Drinking
• Multi-Media Campaigns
• Building Community Capacity
• Community Conversations

Learn more about Alianza Para Una Comunidad Libre de Drogas and their vision to create a healthy, aware, and drug-free community for Latino youth.

View a list of previous NNED Partners of the Month.

It’s that time of the year when children begin returning to school. However, this year comes with uncertainty as schools reopen for in-person learning, remote learning, and hybrid models. As such, the NNED is sharing articles, resources, funding opportunities, and upcoming events to support educators, students, and their families during this time.

Funding Opportunities:

• Cigna – Healthier Kids for Our Future Mental Health Grant: The goal of this grant is to supplement existing mental health programming and help close gaps both within and outside the school environment to address loneliness, anxiety, depression, and suicide prevention. Applications are due September 30, 2020.
• Administration for Children and Families – American Indian/Alaska Native Head Start and/or Early Head Start Expansion: The purpose of the grant is to expand access to high-quality, comprehensive early learning services for newly-enrolled, income-eligible American Indian/Alaska Native pregnant women, and children from birth to compulsory school age. Applications are due October 21, 2020. 
• Health Resources and Services Administration – Healthy Tomorrows Partnership for Children Program: The purpose of this program is to support innovative, community-based initiatives to improve the health status of infants, children, adolescents, and families in rural and other underserved communities by increasing their access to preventive care and services. Applications are due December 5, 2020.

Upcoming Events:

• Sept 4 –  Student Mental Health During COVID-19: How To Prepare as Schools Reopen
• Sept 10 –  Tribal Schools Reopen Amidst COVID-19
• Sept 10 – Trauma and Trauma-Informed Strategies To Support Migrant Students

Articles and Other Resources:

• School Discipline is Racially Biased and Increases Misbehavior – A new study, published in American Psychologist, examines the impact of official infractions given for minor misconduct, or minor infractions, on students in the American school system. Read more…
• Mental Health America 2020 Back to School Toolkit –  Many who remain at home will feel even lonelier and more isolated as they see members of their peer group out and about.  Loneliness can translate to poor sleep, high blood pressure, greater risk of suicidal ideation, and even alcohol and drug use. Depression, anxiety, and fear can also increase. Download now…

This page will be updated regularly.