[NYAPRS Enews] AAP: Efforts Underway to Reduce BH Disparities for Asian Americans

[Harvey Rosenthal]

Working To Reduce Behavioral Health Disparities for the AAPI Population

By Larke N. Huang and Juliet Bui  Asian American Press  May 30, 2012

 

Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders often lack access to mental health
and substance abuse services and face stigma and cultural barriers to
seeking care, and when they do seek treatment, culturally and
linguistically appropriate services are often not available.

 

In recognition of Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month,
the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration - Office
of Behavioral Health Equity <http://www.samhsa.gov/obhe>  recently
hosted a roundtable on strategies for reducing behavioral health
disparities and promoting integrated care for the AAPI population.

 

Dr. Rocco Cheng, project director of the California Reducing Disparities
Project's AAPI workgroup, gave a presentation on his workgroup's efforts
and findings on AAPI-specific disparities and effective strategies for
addressing them. Among them, Dr. Cheng reported that culturally and
linguistically responsive strategies are critical for reaching out to
and serving AAPI communities.

 

In addition, two SAMHSA Primary and Behavioral Health Care Integration
<http://www.samhsa.gov/grants/2012/sm_12_008.aspx>  project grantees
shared their organizations' accomplishments in bringing primary care
into a behavioral health care setting.  Dr. Jane Yi of Asian Community
Mental Health Services in Oakland, California noted the importance of
developing extensive brokerage services such as interpretation and
translation to ensure a warm handoff between the behavioral health care
team and the primary care provider. Yoon Joo Han of Asian Counseling and
Referral Services in Seattle, Washington shared the successes of
culturally-focused wellness activities as part of a transformation from
a behavioral health focus to a wellness approach.

 

The roundtable provided the opportunity for SAMHSA, other Department of
Health and Human Services agencies, the White House Initiative on Asian
Americans and Pacific Islanders, and AAPI organizations to focus on the
behavioral health needs of the AAPI population and learn more about
effective, culturally appropriate strategies for reducing disparities -
outcomes that reflect OBHE's mission. OBHE was established by the
Affordable Care Act and focuses on addressing the mental health,
substance abuse and related conditions of often underserved racial,
ethnic and sexual minority populations.

 

Our strategy and activities are driven by federal plans to address
health disparities, and we look for ways SAMSHA can improve access to
quality services.

 

In March, SAMHSA's National Network to Eliminate Disparities in
Behavioral Health <http://www.nned.net/>  partnered with the National
Latino Behavioral Health Association to convene its second annual
training meeting, NNEDLearn 2012, for behavioral health practitioners
and administrators from community-based organizations serving diverse
racial and ethnic minority communities.

 

The focus of this initiative is to improve the quality of care by
providing training in evidence-based and culturally adapted
evidence-based practices and to address workforce gaps in the provider
organizations. NNEDLearn 2012 involves 125 practitioners participating
in teams from 35 organizations, who selected among six training tracks,
including culturally adapted cognitive behavioral therapy for Hispanics
and suicide prevention for tribes.

 

Following the meeting, these six training groups continue in virtual
communities of practices for coaching and ongoing web-based training
over the next six months.  One of the NNEDLearn 2012 teams came from the
Karen Organization of Minnesota, which assists Karen and other refugees
from Burma with settling, integrating and achieving self-sufficiency.

 

Also in March, SAMHSA and the Pacific Behavioral Health Collaborating
Council launched the Master Trainer Development Program for the Pacific
Jurisdictions.  This one-year training and skill-building effort is
designed to develop the expertise of a set of Pacific Islander Master
Trainer candidates to provide behavioral health training to their
colleagues.  The launch in Guam introduced 18 Master Trainer candidates
representing the six Pacific Jurisdictions.  SAMHSA will be working with
the PBHCC to identify host sites for each of the candidates to receive
training in their selected areas of focus.

 

Through each of these initiatives, OBHE has developed strong
partnerships with community members and providers to support efforts to
improve behavioral health for diverse populations, including the AAPI
community.  Please visit www.samhsa.gov/about/obhe.aspx to learn more
about our work.

 

Larke N. Huang Ph.D. is the Director of the Office of Behavioral Health
Equity at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
and Juliet Bui is a Health Analyst at the Substance Abuse and Mental
Health Services Administration.

http://aapress.com/lifestyle/health/working-to-reduce-behavioral-health-
disparities-for-the-aapi-population/

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