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While lawmakers across the U.S. fiercely debate the implementation of mental health programs, a group of African immigrants in Los Angeles has created culturally relevant mental and public health assistance for their own communities.

The African Communities Public Health Coalition non-profit was started in 2011 to serve African and Caribbean immigrant communities struggling with emotional, cultural and mental health needs. In 2017 there were 56,300 immigrants from African countries and 31,500 from Caribbean countries in Los Angeles County according to the Migration Policy Institute.

“There [were] a lot of suicides back in 2008 to 2009,” Executive Director of the African Communities Public Health Coalition Senait Admassu said.

The non-profit, which receives a combination of funding from the department and private grants and fundraising, sees itself as a bridge between community initiatives and government health services.

In 2017 the organization began providing direct mental health services by state-certified employees. All staff and volunteers, however, are not required to have an educational background or work experience in mental health to work in the coalition’s outreach and education efforts.

According to Admassu, education is vital, especially when dealing with a contentious subject like female genital mutilation practiced in certain African societies. The ACPHS also engages in efforts to educate the Department of Homeland Security and other law enforcement on why this practice exists, why it is accepted and the social stigma associated with it. The coalition also hopes to educate migrant families that may engage in female genital mutilation that the practice is illegal and not accepted in the United States.

However, outreach and understanding can be challenging. Admassu said she often hears the term “hard to reach communities” used by county health officials in reference to African immigrants and Caribbean communities of African descent. Admassu said this term is isolating because it sends the message that these communities are difficult to work with and are somehow an insular population.

“For mental health back home in Africa and even here, the first resource is a faith-based organization,” Admassu said. “A pastor, or an imam a spiritual person in general, is whom we go to for any resource and because of that, we are mainly partners with community faith-based leaders. It’s an easy way to reach out.”

People of all backgrounds can experience similar mental health problems, but Admassu said immigrant populations can experience more severe versions of anxiety and depression. In some cases, a pre-existing condition could become worse.

Read more at USCAnnenbergMedia.com.

With the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) reaching pandemic proportions, the racial justice organization Color of Change has released a statement highlighting the disparities Black people face when dealing with the virus.

The president of Color Of Change, Rashad Robinson, explained:

“This pandemic reveals a terrifying reality — many Americans don’t even know if they are infected with COVID-19 because they are scared to go to the hospital and receive free tests and treatment that may saddle them with debt that could take years to pay off. After years of Republicans, big pharma and major corporations fighting against paid sick leave legislation and medicare for all we are left with a crisis where disproportionately Black low wage workers are continuing to support the public without the health insurance or paid time off that would make us all safer.”

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), about 29 percent of the workforce was able to work from home. Ninety percent of higher-wage workers received paid sick leave compared to lower-income workers, according to BLS. Just 31 percent of workers with salaries in the bottom 10% were allowed paid sick leave.

Among the working poor, Black workers will witness an even greater impact.

According to BLS, Black and Hispanic workers are more than twice as likely to receive poverty-level wages compared to their white counterparts. About 8 percent of Black and Hispanic workers earn wages below the poverty level compared to 4 percent of the white workforce. Black women workers suffer the most with 10 percent classified as the working poor, compared to 3.5% of white men.

“There’s a lot of occupational segregation in this country,” said Elise Gould, senior economist at EPI, according to Yahoo Finance. “So when we think of those low-wage workers they’re more likely to be women, black and Hispanic workers. This could hit some communities more than others.”

In addition to voting measures, Robinson also demanded the coronavirus doesn’t negatively impact the 2020 Census where “Black people are among the most undercounted populations in the census and an undercount will lead to communities not getting the funding and representation they need or deserve for the next 10 years.” He suggested the Census Bureau make clear and impactful contingency plans since the coronavirus “will likely hinder the efforts of census workers going door-to-door to ensure participation.”

Finally, Robinson called for action to make sure the coronavirus doesn’t affect the health of incarcerated individuals.

“We are deeply concerned about the health, safety, and dignity of disproportionately Black incarcerated men and women as officials respond to this outbreak,” he said. “While prison populations are quarantined from the general public, they are at high risk for COVID-19 outbreaks as they are kept in close quarters with inadequate food, water, and health care. Yet the nation’s jails and prisons have reportedly little access to coronavirus tests and in some cases, no soap, despite the inevitable spread of the epidemic in a captive population. Federal and state officials must ensure that testing and treatment for COVID-19 is available as needed in all jails and prisons.”

Read more on NewsOne.com.

In order to highlight pockets of excellence across the country, the NNED selects a partner organization to highlight once a month. A Pa​use 4 The Cause, Inc. has been selected as the Partner of the Month for July in celebration of National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month.

Located in Cleveland, Ohio, A Pa​use 4 The Cause, Inc.’s mission is to work with at risk youth, young adults, and underserved populations, putting a “PAUSE” on Negative Thinking and Behaviors through P.E.A. (prevention, education, and art). Their vision is to address  social issues that impact many causes of self destructive and  defeating behaviors which are infiltrating our communities. It is their vision that implementing programmatic time allotted “pauses” of negative thinking and identifying individual’s goals and dreams though artful expressions, and life skills that today’s at risk population will create a new “cause” for living a healthier and productive life.

Some of the programs and services that are currently offered:

• Youth Development Program – The organization as an effort to target disenfranchised and disengaged youth who were either involved or leading to involvement in the criminal justice system. The participants are preparing to transistion into theit desired interest while staying engaged in reaching their goals and dreams. Artful Expression consists of: Music, Drama, The Culinary, and Dance.
• Prevention Program – The Prevention Programs are structured to guide and assist clients to be the best they can possible be. Students are expected to develop a sense of self worth, confidence, increased esteem and guidance towards achieving their goals and dreams. A Pause 4 The Cause, Inc.’s clients are empowered and motivated by qualified staff and mentors to assist with creating a new cause for living productive and healthy lives.
• Recovery & Peer Support Program – Research has shown that recovery is facilitated by social support as four types, emotional, informational, instrumental, and affiliational. Recovery Community Services Program (RCSP) projects have found these types of support are instrumental in successes of those who suffer substance abuse disorders and help individuals to become and stay engaged in the recovery process and reduce the likelihood of relapse.

Learn more about the A Pa​use 4 The Cause, Inc. programs and their purpose to make attainable education, art, and skills that will guide and present alternative directions toward self-sufficiency and productivity for individuals, families, and communities in the Cleveland community.

View a list of previous NNED Partners of the Month.

The demonstrations against racial inequalities currently sweeping the globe, along with the continual spread of the coronavirus across the world, is shining a spotlight on an already serious problem the public health community has been fighting for years: health inequity in minority communities.

These groups have long endured limited access to care and a greater likelihood of experiencing chronic conditions, such as diabetes, heart disease and obesity. Adding COVID-19 to the mix is now amplifying the effects, as we’re witnessing higher rates of infection and death from COVID-19 among African Americans, Hispanics and rural residents.

Overall, large life expectancy gaps occur most frequently in cities that have higher levels of racial and ethnic segregation. Looking at differences by ethnicity, it’s clear that chronic conditions disproportionately impact minorities, too. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that nearly 44% of African American men and 48% of women have some form of cardiovascular disease. And, they are 30% more likely than white patients to die prematurely from heart disease and two times as likely to die prematurely from stroke. Obesity, which has many associated chronic diseases, also impacts minorities more so than others. Hispanic children ages 2 to 19 had the highest prevalence of obesity in the U.S. (21.9%), while Mexican Americans, specifically, suffer more from diabetes than other Hispanics.

Adding to the problem is the likelihood of minority groups to delay or go without needed care. A recent study noted that African American and Hispanic adults are less likely than white adults to have a usual source of care or have had a health visit in the past year. And those living in rural areas face a range of barriers accessing care, from proximity and availability of providers to lower income and lack of insurance coverage.

These inequities take an economic toll, too. It estimated that disparities cause about $93 billion in excess medical care costs and $42 billion in lost productivity annually, not to mention economic losses due to premature death.

A variety of studies released in the last few months have looked at the impact of COVID-19 on minority groups. The results are sobering.

Research published in mid-April in JAMA has highlighted that African-Americans are more at risk from contracting COVID-19, as well as dying from it. A survey of predominantly black U.S. counties showed an infection rate of 137.5 out of 100,000 people (3x higher) and a death rate of 6.3 out of 100,000 (6x higher) than predominantly white counties. Another study also noted that African Americans accounted for a higher share of confirmed cases and deaths compared to their share of the total population. Hispanics and Asians had similar results in some states as well.

Further, new Medicare COVID-19 data shows more than 325,000 Medicare beneficiaries had a diagnosis of COVID-19 between January 1 and May 16, 2020. This translates to 518 COVID-19 cases per 100,000 Medicare beneficiaries. In addition, the data indicates that nearly 110,000 Medicare beneficiaries were hospitalized for COVID-19-releated treatment, which equals 175 COVID-19 hospitalizations per 100,000 Medicare beneficiaries. And, blacks were hospitalized with COVID-19 at a rate nearly four times higher than whites.

The disparities presented here go beyond race/ethnicity and suggest the impact of social determinants of health, particularly socio-economic status.

All in all, while the coronavirus pandemic has exposed the challenges and threats that rural communities and minorities face with regard to accessing care and addressing chronic conditions, solutions exist to help overcome these hurdles.

Read more on MedCityNews.com.

One morning last year, Brent Simcosky stepped out of a pickup truck in the middle of a sprawling field off Highway 101, stood in grass that brushed his knees and imagined an oasis from the scourge of opioids.

The epidemic had struck particularly hard here in Clallam County, where generations of families from the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe live along the waterways of the Salish Sea. Simcosky, health director for the 537-member tribe, had too often seen the battered faces of neighbors and community members addicted to black tar heroin that sells for $5 a hit or to pain pills that for years saturated this remote corner of the Pacific Northwest.

In Washington, with 29 federally recognized tribes, Native Americans have died of opioid overdoses at a rate nearly three times higher than that of nonnatives. For heroin alone, it was four times higher, federal data shows. The tribe planned to offer treatment to residents — native and nonnative — across two counties.

“Indians,” tribe Chairman Ron Allen told Simcosky, “can be part of the solution.”

In May 2019, the tribe bought the land. The purchase initially drew little attention in Sequim, population 7,000, a town of retirees, artisan shops and an annual lavender festival that brings flocks of tourists every summer.

But a group of local residents rallied to block the project, arguing that tiny Sequim was no place for a regional drug treatment center. When tribe leaders called a public meeting to present their plan, more than 1,000 people spilled into a steamy room at the civic center and onto hundreds of folding chairs set up outside.

Scores came from a newly formed group: Save Our Sequim (SOS), a name that became a rallying cry.

SOS members worry a treatment facility would draw too many outsiders struggling with addiction into a small community without adequate law enforcement and social services. Tourism could falter. Housing prices could drop. Schools could quickly become overwhelmed, SOS members have argued.

Read more on the WashingtonPost.com.

As it confronts the COVID-19 pandemic, the US faces what could be its worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. A successful government response to the economic consequences of the pandemic is critical for sustaining families’ health and well-being and allowing families to remain housed as major sectors of the economy remain closed. The success of this response will partly depend on its effectiveness in reaching the families hardest hit by the loss of jobs and incomes. As relief is distributed, policymakers will need timely data on families’ financial and material well-being to evaluate and improve current efforts and inform new legislation.

This brief uses new data from the Urban Institute’s Health Reform Monitoring Survey, a nationally representative survey of nonelderly adults conducted between March 25 and April 10, 2020, to examine the effects of the coronavirus outbreak on families’ employment and abilities to meet basic needs, as well as racial/ethnic and family income–related disparities in the economic impact of the pandemic. As of late March/early April, we find the following:

• Just over 4 in 10 non-elderly adults (41.5 percent) reported that their families have lost jobs, work hours, or work-related income because of the coronavirus outbreak.
• Job and income losses are widespread but more prevalent among the families of low-income and Hispanic adults.
• In response to the crisis, 30.6 percent of adults reported that their families reduced spending on food, 43.1 percent put off major purchases, and 27.9 percent drew down savings or increased credit card debt. Among adults in families that lost work or income, 46.5 percent reduced spending on food, 58.1 percent put off major purchases, and 43.9 percent tapped savings or increased credit card debt.
• Low-income, Hispanic, and black adults were most likely to report that their families reduced spending on food, delayed major purchases, or used savings or increased credit card debt.
• As families cope with new financial challenges, many have experienced serious material hardships. Nearly one-third of adults (31.0 percent) reported that their families could not pay the rent, mortgage, or utility bills, were food insecure, or went without medical care because of the cost during the last 30 days. Among adults in families that lost work or income, the share experiencing these material hardships was 42.0 percent over the same time period.
• Over two-thirds (68.6 percent) of adults with family incomes below the federal poverty level and over 45 percent of black and Hispanic adults reported that their families experienced one or more of these hardships in the last 30 days.
• Looking ahead to the next month, adults are most likely to be worried about being able to work enough hours (38.5 percent) and pay their debts (33.1 percent), and more than one-quarter worry about paying for housing, utility, and medical costs and having enough food to eat.

Read more on the Urban.org.