May 10 - APA Mental Health Day: Frames of Mind Exhibit

In honor of Asian Pacific American Mental Health Day and May being Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month and Mental Health Awareness Month, Richmond Area Multi-Services, Inc. (RAMS) is proudly partnering with Kearny Street Workshop to hold a photography exhibit titled “Frames of Mind”. This exhibit features the work of Asian American and Pacific Islanders who participated in a 7-class workshop series, telling stories about mental health through photography.

Here are the Frames of Mind exhibit details:
      Frames of Mind exhibit: May 10-13, 2016 (please check the Center’s website for gallery hours)
      FREE Public Reception: May 10, 2016 (4:00pm to 7:00pm)
      International Hotel Manilatown Center
      868 Kearny Street, San Francisco, CA 94108

About Mental Health Conditions:

• About one in five Americans in a given year are impacted by mental health conditions regardless of gender, age, race, religion and socioeconomic status. (NIMH) 
• Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders appear to have extremely low utilization of mental health services relative to other U.S. populations. (NAMI) This may be due to the substantial stigma that exists and cultural & linguistic isolation of the community, family and individual.
• The economic cost of untreated mental illness is more than 100 billion dollars each year in the United States. Without treatment the consequences of mental illness for the individual and society are staggering: unnecessary disability, unemployment, substance abuse, homelessness, inappropriate incarceration, and suicide. (NAMI)
•  Treatments for mental health conditions today are highly effective and individuals who receive treatment have significant reduction of symptoms and improved quality of life.

Many factors contribute to mental health concerns such as biological, life experiences (e.g. trauma, immigration, housing instability), and family history of mental health conditions. When someone starts to experience the early warning signs of mental illness, knowing the risks factors and symptoms will help. Often times, family and friends are the first to support a person through these early stages. Asking for help is never a sign of weakness and wellness & recovery is always possible.

The press release is below (right-click and select any option to "Open").

Community Voices: Stories From The Frontline

All RAMS staff, interns, and trainees are invited to this presentation & discussion at the 10th Annual Evelyn Lee Diversity and Cultural Competency Training:

Community Voices: Stories from the Frontline 

Friday, November 13th, 9am – 12pm 

State Building, Milton Marks Auditorium, 455 Golden Gate Avenue, San Francisco

This presentation will describe grassroots efforts for community and capacity building, strategies for advocacy and community empowerment, and engagement with leaders and legislative groups.

PRESENTERS:  Gordon Chin, MSW, and Robert L. Okin, MD

Robert Okin, MD was chief of service at SFGH Department of Psychiatry; professor of clinical psychiatry at UCSF; and vice chair of the UCSF, School of Medicine’s Department of Psychiatry, where he oversaw the development of crucial services for San Francisco’s most acute & chronic patients with mental health conditions, including the SFGH Department of Psychiatry’s culturally focused inpatient units and Emergency Department Case Management Program (which received the National Association of Public Hospitals and Health Systems’ Safety Net Award in 1999). He has been quoted numerous times in the New York Times, was featured on ABC’s 20/20, and in 2009, he received the American Psychiatric Association’s prestigious Human Rights Award.

Gordon Chin, MSW is the founding Executive Director of San Francisco’s Chinatown Community Development Center, serving in this position until his retirement in October 2011. He has been active in San Francisco’s Chinatown community for over four decades, and has served on many community and civic boards including the national boards of the Center for Community Change, the National Coalition for Asian Pacific American Community Development, and the SF Public Utilities Commission. Mr. Chin was selected as one of six inaugural fellows for the Fannie Mae Foundation’s James A. Johnson Community Fellows Award, and was one of the community development leaders honored at the Local Initiatives Support Corporation’s Silver Anniversary with a Mike Sviridoff Leadership Award.

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If you have any questions about this training, please feel free to contact Angela Tang at angelatang@ramsinc.org or (415) 800-0699.

To view the flyer below, right-click and select any option to "Open".

Mental Health and Wellness in May 2015

In honor of Asian Pacific American Mental Health Day and May being Asian Pacific American Heritage Month and Mental Health Awareness Month, on May 10, RAMS was pleased to partner with the Richmond District Neighborhood Center (RDNC) to hold a Family Wellness Fair focusing on fun activities and games to involve the whole family, and encourage conversation & awareness of mental health & wellness.  As this day also fell on Mother's Day this year, RAMS and RDNC staff & volunteers facilitated interactive and engaging activities focusing on togetherness, family interaction, and of course honoring and celebrating Mom on this special day.

Additionally, during the month of May, RAMS is pleased to be engaged in a series of mental health activities:

  -- RAMS Deputy Chief & Director of Clinical Services Christina Shea, LMFT, and API Mental Health Collaborative Program Coordinator Natalie T. Ah Soon, MPH, co-presented at the California Association of Social Rehabilitation Agencies (CASRA) Spring Conference on May 7 in Concord.  Their workshop was titled "Lost in Translation: How Cultures and Languages Describe their Own Health", and described how culturally competent treatment is beyond just the language, how culture explains physical and emotional pain, and how it can only be understood within the cultural context. "Globalizing mental illness" can only lead to misunderstanding, miscommunication, and mistreatment, and Asian Pacific Islander communities in San Francisco attempt to support API communities in understanding and communicating about their pain, and hopefully lead to healing. 

  -- RAMS co-sponsored the 3rd Annual Asian Pacific Islander Health Forum, Northern California’s health education forum focusing on the Asian and Pacific Islander Communities, on May 7. The goals were to inform professionals about the most relevant challenges facing the Asian/Pacific Islander population in Sonoma County, to enhance access and quality of health services for the Asian/Pacific Islander community, and to facilitate networking among healthcare and other service providers.

  -- RAMS co-sponsored the annual Richmond Community Health Festival on May 2nd.

RAMS will also be participating in the upcoming NAMIWalk event taking place in San Francisco on Saturday, May 30.  The 5k walk will be held in Lindley Meadow in Golden Gate Park.  Check-in starts at 8:30am; Walk time starts at 10:00am.  Please click HERE to register, donate, or join & raise funds, or see more details about the event.  We hope you join us at the Walk!

A Day with Dr. Janet Helms

RAMS is pleased to present the Ninth Annual Evelyn Lee Diversity and Cultural Competency Training!

A Day with Dr. Janet Helms 

Using Racial Identity in Everyday Life 

WHEN: December 5, 2014 9:00 am to 4:00 pm (Registration at 8:30am)
WHERE: West Bay Conference Center, Grand Ballroom 1290 Fillmore Street, San Francisco, CA 94115

ONLINE REGISTRATION: http://www.ramsinc.org/register.html

Course Description: People in the United States are afraid to talk about race and racism. As a result when racial tragedies, such as the Ferguson police riots or the George Zimmerman trial occur, there is no common language for coming to a shared understanding of the significance of the events across racial groups. Without empathy toward “the other,” there can be no peaceful resolution of societal racial problems. In this interactive workshop, participants will learn to use racial identity theory to understand their own and others’ within-group and between-group perceptions and reactions to race-related events.

Course Objectives: • To learn to differentiate race from culture • To learn to recognize the dimensions of White racial identity • To learn to recognize the dimensions of People of Color identity • To use social interaction theory to understand how people do or do not talk about race

Featured Speaker: Janet E. Helms, PhD is the Augustus Long Professor in the Department of Counseling, Developmental, and Educational Psychology and Director of the Institute for the Study and Promotion of Race and Culture at Boston College. She is the past president of the Society of Counseling Psychology (Division 17 of the American Psychological Association [APA]). She has written over sixty empirical and theoretical articles and four books on the topics of racial identity and cultural influences on assessment and counseling practice. Dr. Helms' work has been acknowledged with numerous awards that include "Distinguished Career Contributions to Research" award from the Society for the Psychological Study of Ethnic Minority Issues, awarded at the APA convention, among many others.

Seminar Rates: 
- $50/General
- $35/Former RAMS Staff/Intern/Trainee
- $20/Student
* Meal: Additional $12
* Continuing Education: Additional $20
* On-site Registration: Additional $10

Continuing Education Credit: Richmond Area Multi-Services, Inc. (RAMS) is approved by the California Psychological Association (RIC121) and California Board of Behavioral Sciences (PCE4601) to provide continuing education for Psychologists, MFTs, LCSWs, and LPCCs. RAMS maintains responsibility for this program and its content. Course meets the qualifications for 6 hours of continuing education credits. Those arriving more than 15 minutes after the start time or leaving before the workshop is completed will not receive CE credit.

CANCELLATIONS are subject to a $20.00 processing fee and must be received 5 days prior to be eligible for a refund.

For any questions, you may contact Ocean Sun at oceansun@ramsinc.org and/or (415) 800-0699 ext. 209

To view the flyer below, right-click and select any option to "Open".
Click HERE to register online.

RAMS participates in NIMH and SAMHSA webinar & roundtable discussion

RAMS participated, as a primary discussant, in the invitational roundtable discussion & webinar event on, “Practice-Based Research and Implementation: Developing a Framework for Collaboration to Reduce Mental Health Disparities” on September 25, 2014. The Office for Research on Disparities and Global Mental Health of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) and the Office of Behavioral Health Equity in the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) were the hosts and sponsoring entities for this webinar event & discussion.

The objective of this webinar was to enhance understanding of the development of behavioral health services collaboration approaches that accelerate the dissemination of research-based mental health treatments into communities. There was a focus on the importance of utilizing practice based data to identify trends in mental health care disparities for members of the racial and ethnic minority groups and rural populations as collaborations are developed. The event was an opportunity to learn from researchers, practitioners, community providers and leaders on how best to develop research-practice partnerships to increase access to and the availability of culturally and linguistically appropriate mental health services. The conversations was to set the stage for thinking about ways to align efforts underway in NIMH and SAMHSA to address disparities in mental health outcomes across diverse populations.

 In an effort to generate conversations that will lead to an action plan, RAMS was invited to share our experiences, ideas, and solutions on implementing mental health services & treatment that have helped to reduce mental health disparities, challenges faced in implementing mental health services & treatment to reducing mental health disparities, and ways that those challenges could become opportunities to address mental health disparities.

RAMS is grateful for the generous invitation to present and have the opportunity to share what we have done and are working on with the wider healthcare audience & community-at-large.

Check out SAMHSA's 2015-2018 Strategic Plan, a new strategic plan outlining six Strategic Initiatives focused on leading change to better meet the behavioral health care needs of individuals, communities, and service providers.  The document in its entirety can be downloaded HERE.

Mental Health First Aid in Tagalog and English

RAMS' Asian & Pacific Islander Mental Health Collaborative is pleased to announce that its community collaborator, San Francisco Filipino Mental Health Initiative, will be offering a Mental Health First Aid course in Tagalog and English. When a mental health crisis happens, people are often wondering what to do and generally unable to detect early signs of mental health issues. Mental Health First Aid training addresses these questions and offers participants with the knowledge & skills to recognize warning signs, how to assess a mental health crisis, and how to act during the crisis situation. During the month of May, SF Filipino Mental Health Initiative is offering FREE Mental Health First Aid courses, sponsored by RAMS and funded by Mental Health Services Act through Community Behavioral Health Services-San Francisco Department of Public Health. The course will train seniors, caregivers, and community members.

For more information, and if you are interested in this training, please contact Joyce Vives-Diloy, MSW at: sfofmhi@gmail.com

According to the National Council on Behavioral Health:

WHAT IS MENTAL HEALTH FIRST AID?
Mental Health First Aid is an 8-hour course that introduces participants to risk factors and warning signs of mental health concerns, builds understanding of their impact, and overviews common treatments. The course uses role-playing and simulations to demonstrate how to assess a mental health crisis; select interventions and provide initial help; and connect persons to professional, peer and social supports as well as self-help resources. Mental Health First Aid allows for early detection and intervention by teaching participants about the signs and symptoms of specific illnesses like anxiety, depression, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, eating disorders, and addictions. The program offers concrete tools and answers key questions like “What can I do?” and “Where can someone find help?” Participants are introduced to local mental health resources, national organizations, support groups, and online tools for mental health and addictions treatment and support.

WHY MENTAL HEALTH FIRST AID?
One in five Americans has a mental illness and many are reluctant to seek help or might not know where to turn for care. The symptoms of mental illness can be difficult to detect — even when friends and family of someone who appears to be developing a mental illness can tell that something is amiss, they may not know how to intervene or direct the person to proper treatment – which means that all too often, those in need of mental health services do not get them until it is too late. As a society, we largely remain ignorant about the signs and symptoms of mental illnesses, and we ignore our role as responsible community members to help people experiencing these illnesses.

To view the flyers below, right-click and select any option to "Open"

 

 

Inaugural Filipino Mental Health Symposium

The Filipino Mental Health Initiative of San Francisco and San Mateo County, and student organizations and staff at San Francisco University, together, are pleased to present the Inaugural Filipino Mental Health Symposium, “Kwentuhan: Sharing Our Stories”, on Friday April 11, in Jack Adams Hall at San Francisco State University.

Students, educators, community members, and health providers interested in promoting mental wellness within the Filipino and Filipino American community will find the symposium useful. Stories, discussions, and performances have been carefully selected to provide opportunities for the larger community to learn more about issues related to Filipino American children, families, and adults.

Our theme “Kwentuhan: Sharing Our Stories” emphasizes the historical importance of story telling within Filipino culture and its potential for expanding our awareness around mental wellness. Through sharing our stories and the resources provided at the symposium, we hope to empower, dispel stigmas around mental health, and provide a place for others to meet people who are serving the Filipino and Filipino American communities.

We hope you and your community members will join us, as we come together for this powerful event.
To attend, register by clicking HERE or visiting the registration site http://tiny.cc/fmhs
Lunch and refreshments will be provided. This is a FREE event!

To view the flyer, right-click and select any option to "Open"

 

 SPECIAL THANKS TO: CHI RHO OMICRON, ACTIVE MINDS, COUNSELING AND PSYCHOLOGICAL SERVICES CENTER-SFSU, THE BIG 6, AND CONGRESSWOMAN JACKIE SPEIER.

If you have any questions please contact Judith at judith@bayanihancc.org.

This activity is sponsored by RAMS Asian & Pacific Islander Mental Health Collaborative in partnership with the Filipino Mental Health Initiative - SF. Funded by Mental Health Services Act, San Francisco Department of Public Health - Community Behavioral Health Services.

API Mental Health Collaborative is abuzz with events

Today's post is written by RAMS Asian & Pacific Islander Mental Health Collaborative Coordinator Natalie Ah Soon, MPH, providing information and updates about the APIMHC program's mental health promotion events and activities. 
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APIMHC’s Community Collaborators springs into the season with a beehive of community mental health promotion events and activities:

On April 4, 2014, Samoan Wellness Initiative will start a Fale Lalaga (Weaving House) of wellness through the O Lo’u Leo (My Voice) Series. In conjunction with Journey to Empowerment, four digital stories produced by Pacific Islanders about issues that impact their mental health will be featured individually, followed by a guided discussion and dialogue co-facilitated by experienced facilitators and community members/providers. Mental health providers will be on-site to provide support.  Activities will be geared towards Pacific Islanders, and particularly the Samoan community.
Contact: Nani Wilson – naniwilson@hotmail.com

On April 6, 2014, Southeast Asian Mental Health Initiative will host a cultural event to celebrate the Cambodian and Laotian New Year. Outreach, engagement, and education activities include monk blessings, BACI, cultural performances, sharing of traditional food and practices of wellness, sharing of resources (among others).  Cambodians, Laotians, providers, and community members are invited to attend.
Contact: Chanthol Oung - chanthol.ccdi@gmail.com

On April 11, 2014,  the Filipino Mental Health Initiative-SF, a community collaborator of RAMS’ Asian and Pacific Islander Mental Health Collaborative Project, will offer the Inaugural Filipino Mental Health Symposium titled Engaging and Educating through KWENTUHAN: Sharing Our Stories. Students, educators, community members, and health providers interested in promoting mental wellness within the Filipino and Filipino American community will find the symposium useful. A line-up of carefully selected mental health-related stories, discussions, and performances about Filipino Americans will provide opportunities for the larger community to learn more about issues that impact Filipino-American children, families, and adults. Through KWENTUHAN: Sharing Our Stories and the resources provided at the symposium, it is hoped that awareness of mental wellness will expand through empowerment with information sharing and exchange, dispelling the stigma of mental health, and providing a place for community members and providers to meet individuals that serve the Filipino-American community in the San Francisco Bay Area.  The event will be held on Friday, April 11, 2014, 9am-3pm in the Jack Adams Hall at San Francisco State University, 1600 Holloway, San Francisco, CA 94132.
Registration is REQUIRED for this FREE event! Register at: http://tiny.cc/fmhs by Tuesday, April 8, 2014
Contacts: Judith or Joyce at joyce@bayanihancc.org OR 415-348-8042

Introducing the Asian & Pacific Islander Mental Health Collaborative

RAMS gallops into the Year of the Horse with a brand NEW project: Asian & Pacific Islander Mental Health Collaborative!

The project is RAMS’ inaugural venture into community health promotion programs. Through RAMS’ collaborative partnership with the Samoan Community Development Center, Filipino-American Development Foundation/Bayanihan Community Center, and Vietnamese Youth Development Center, our goal is to reduce the stigma of mental health among Samoans, Filipinos, and Southeast Asians (Cambodian, Laotian, & Vietnamese) in San Francisco by delivering culturally and linguistically competent mental health prevention and early intervention activities across the lifespan in community settings.

Check out our website page HERE for more details.

Image credit: artwork by Ryan Gucayane, designed for CRDP, API-SPW

Stereotype Threat: How it affects us and what we can do

RAMS is honored to have distinguished speaker Claude Steele, PhD, as our featured presenter for the 7th Annual Evelyn Lee Diversity and Cultural Competency Training on October 11.

This seminar will focus on the theory of stereotype threat, designating a common process through which people from different groups, being threatened by different stereotypes, can have different experiences in the same situation. It will illustrate its application in understanding group differences in performance ranging from the intellectual to the athletic, in a variety of settings such as the workplace and academia. The psychological experience of the individual and, particularly, on the experience of threats to the self and the consequences of those threats will also be discussed along with the concepts of self-image threat, self-affirmation, and its role in self-regulation, the academic under-achievement of minority students, and the role of alcohol and drug use in self-regulation processes and social behavior. Furthermore, the seminar will reveal interventions and strategies, from a community service provider perspective.

When: Thursday, October 11.  9:00am - 12:00pm (Registration 8:30am)
Where: Balboa Theater, 3630 Balboa Street, San Francisco (Next door to RAMS)

Dr. Steele is a renowned social psychologist who is currently the I. James Quillen Dean for the School of Education at Stanford University. Previously, he served as the 21st Provost of Columbia University, as well as a professor of psychology. He is best known for his work on stereotype threat and its application to minority student academic performance. His earlier research focused on the self (e.g. self-image, self-affirmation) as well as the role of self-regulation in addictive behaviors. Dr. Steele has also published articles in numerous scholarly journals and his recent book, Whistling Vivaldi: And Other Clues to How Stereotypes Affect Us and What We Can Do, was published in 2010.

Participating in the International Study of DSM Cultural Formulation Interview

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), the handbook written by the American Psychiatric Association (APA), and used by health care professionals as an authoritative guide to the diagnosis of mental disorders, is now in the process of finalizing its 5th addition. RAMS, Inc. is proud to serve as the San Francisco site for the DSM-5 Cultural Formulation Field Trial, studying the newly proposed Cultural Formulation Interview (CFI). This key addition to the Manual has been created to help clinicians more effectively assess cultural aspects of psychiatric diagnosis. In collaboration with UC Davis, RAMS is one of about a dozen sites in this international DSM-5 Cultural Formulation field trial study being led by the Center of Excellence for Cultural Competence at the New York State Psychiatric Institute with support from the American Psychiatric Association.

In the CFI, culture refers to the values, orientations, assumptions, and perspectives that may be influenced by an individual's membership in a social group or by aspects of an individual's background, such as ethnicity, class, race, language, and religion. The Cultural Formulation Interview focuses on assessing these cultural aspects of the patient's presentation and treatment expectations in order to make clinical care more culturally appropriate. Thus, unlike the standard patient history assessment, whose agenda of topics and direction is usually set by the clinician, the CFI attempts to address problems from the patient's standpoint. RAMS is excited to have been the site utilizing the Chinese language translated version of the CFI in order to better assess its content, clarity, and effectiveness within a particular ethnic and linguistic group.

From the Press Release from American Psychiatric Association: “As with every stage in this thorough development process, DSM-5 is benefiting from a depth of research, expertise and diverse opinion that will ultimately strengthen the final document," noted David J. Kupfer, M.D., chair of the DSM-5 Task Force. Feedback about the proposed changes, diagnostic criteria, and updates can be submitted through www.DSM5.org, which will be available until the comment period ends June 15. After that, the site will remain viewable but will be closed to comments as the Work Groups and Task Force complete revisions and submit criteria for evaluation by the Scientific Review Committee and the Clinical and Public Health Committee. The Task Force will then make final recommendations to the APA Board of Trustees. The final version of DSM-5 is expected to go before the Board of Trustees in December 2012. A more detailed update on the development and list of changes made to draft proposals since July 2011 can be found on www.DSM5.org.

California Reducing Disparities Project

RAMS, Inc., as a member organization of the Asian Pacific Islander Strategic Planning Workgroup (API-SPW) for the California Reducing Disparities Project (CRDP), is pleased to announce release of the draft report for public review & comment, from 04/06 to 4/26. Pacific Clinics, under the directorship of Dr. C. Rocco Cheng, served as the lead organization for the Asian & Pacific Islander Strategic Planning Workgroup, and Community Health for Asian Americans (CHAA), under the leadership of Ms. Beatrice Lee, served as the Bay Area regional lead agency.

The California Reducing Disparities Project (CRDP) is a key statewide policy initiative funded by the California Department of Mental Health (DMH) as means to improve access, quality of care, and increase positive outcomes for racial, ethnic, and cultural communities. Launched in 2009, this two-year statewide Prevention and Early Intervention effort utilizes $3 million in Mental Health Services Act (MHSA) state administrative funding.

The CRDP is focused on five populations to which each will encompass its own Strategic Planning Workgroup (SPW):
•African Americans
•Asian/Pacific Islanders
•Latinos
•Lesbian, Gay, Bi-Sexual, Transgender, Questioning (LGBTQ)
•Native Americans

•To view the detailed roster, please download HERE.

These Strategic Planning Workgroups (SPW) is comprised of community leaders, mental health providers, consumers and family members – all of whom work together to identify new service delivery approaches defined by multicultural communities for multicultural communities using community -defined evidence. Their goal is to develop population-specific reports (strategic plan) that will form the basis of a statewide comprehensive strategic plan to identify new approaches toward reducing disparities.

To view the CRDP Fact Sheet, please click HERE.

Funded by MHSA through the Office of Multicultural Services at the California Department of Mental Health, the API-SPW was formed to address mental health service disparities in the Asian Pacific Islander community by identifying unmet needs and collecting community-defined strategies in response to these needs. The API-SPW consisted of 55 members representing various Asian Pacific Islander communities in California, including community representatives, community organizers, community service providers, consumer advocates, and mental health service providers who have years of experience and expertise serving the API community in urban, suburban, and rural areas. In addition, the API-SPW sought inputs directly from community members through conducting twenty-three focus groups and interviews across the state.

Based on the contributions from the 55 members and 198 focus group participants, the API-SPW proceeded to define core competencies and selection criteria for promising programs relevant to the API community, making this report a true grass-root effort to address mental health service disparities from a community perspective. The spirit of such an effort is reflected in the API report, as it closely documents the information and feedbacks gathered from the API community in the last two years.

About API-SPW:
For information, please download HERE for the API Strategic Planning Workgroup organizational structure.

For more information on the API-SPW, click on the following links for the CRDP and the API strategy & the draft of the report. For comments, please email to crdp@pacificclinics.org by no later than April 26, 2012.

DSM-5 Cultural Formulation Field Trial

RAMS, Inc. is proud to serve as the San Francisco field site for the DSM-5 Cultural Formulation Field Trial. In collaboration with UC Davis, we are excited to participate, as one of the 12 field sites in this international DSM-5 Cultural Formulation field trial study. 
You can read the article by clicking on the image below to enlarge (right-click and select any options to "Open").

Integrated Care for Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Communities: A Blueprint for Action

RAMS is excited to be able to share with our community the official copy of the Integrated Care for Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders Communities: A Blueprint for Action: Consensus Statement and Recommendations.  This document truly represents a group effort, which RAMS was delighted to be a part of, and the Blueprint reflects years of dedication by so many individuals & organizations who have given to improving the quality of care for our communities.  The document was published, in January 2012, by U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Minority Health, and authored by DJ Ida, Ph.D., Janet SooHoo, MSW, and Teresa Chapa, Ph.D., MPA.  It was an honor for RAMS to be invited to participate in this process.  In addition, several staff from RAMS assisted & volunteered at the expert consensus meeting & summit that was held in San Francisco, hosted by National Asian American Pacific Islander Mental Health Association.  Please feel free to distribute this document so we can all build on the recommendations, educate stakeholders/providers/decision makers, and take action!

Click HERE to read the document online.

U.S. Office of Minority Health invites RAMS CEO to first-ever Roundtable Discussion

Kavoos G. Bassiri, RAMS President & CEO, was invited by the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Minority Health (OMH) to participate in OMH’s first-ever roundtable discussion on addressing health and behavioral health needs through integrated care for Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders titled, Integrated Care for Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Communities: A Blueprint for Action.

OMH and its partner, the National Asian American Pacific Islander Mental Health Association (NAAPIMHA), hosted a two-day meeting (8/15-8/16, 2011) with the goal to bring together a diverse group of health and behavioral health professional and key stakeholders to examine the role of integrated care as a formidable method of care delivery for AANHPI populations, and to formulate recommendations and next steps.  To achieve this goal, OMH and NAAPHIMA, listened to leaders in the field, learned about new and emerging practices, and together formulated recommendations and consensus statements that would be utilized to lay the groundwork for how to approach integrated care for AANHPI populations in the U.S.

Among the participants also included Dr. Alvin Alvarez and Dr. Jean Lau Chin, who serve on the RAMS Board of Directors and the Board's Advisory Council, respectively.  They were invited separately, on their own, for their community involvement and expertise.

RAMS is thankful to OMH and NAAPIMHA to have had the opportunity to be part of this process!

New Resources on AAPI Mental Health Released by NAMI

RAMS is excited to share the recent multi-lingual fact sheets on mental illness issues among the Asian American & Pacific Islander (AAPI) community, released by National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI). This was the result of Listening Session (which we blogged about in November 2010), where RAMS President & CEO Kavoos G. Bassiri joined 20 other participants to discuss the unique needs of the AAPI community.

This new series of NAMI fact sheets are now available in English, Chinese, Korean and Vietnamese with the following titles:

• Mental Health Issues among Asian American and Pacific Islander Communities
• Mental Health Issues among Asian American and Pacific Islander Children and Youth
• Asian American and Pacific Islander Mental Health: A Guide on How to Get Support for Your Loved One
• Recovery for Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders Living with Mental Illness

Also, a special “thanks” went out to Dr. Jei Africa, RAMS, and NAMI New Jersey's Chinese American Mental Health Outreach Program for their contributions to the development of these new resources.

Visit www.nami.org/aapi to access these new informational resources focused on mental health recovery and support of AAPI adults and youth with specific consideration of cultural factors. Materials were released in honor of National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month 2011.

Nurturing the Next Generation of Culturally Competent Clinicians

The RAMS Summer Bridge program presented a workshop at the Northern Region Cultural Competence and Mental Health Summit XVII titled, “Promoting Equity in Health Services:  The Power of Community Based Services.”  The presentation, which was held on June 27, 2011, was given by RAMS Summer Bridge Program Coordinator Yuka Hachiuma, MFT, and RAMS Deputy Chief & Director of Clinical Services Christina Shea, MFT, along with two program graduates.

The presentation introduced the audience to the overarching mission of the Summer Bridge program, which is to nurture the next generation of culturally sensitive, linguistically competent, clinicians.  Christina Shea spoke of how she experienced the lack of such clinicians in the workforce as an issue that could be addressed by providing a mentoring program that reaches out to youth from under-represented communities and introducing them to psychology and the various career opportunities in the helping professions.  Yuka Hachiuma explained how the program was designed and implemented in its pilot year, and described the curriculum and how it was made possible through numerous partnerships with other providers in the community.  The program is funded by the Mental Health Services Act. 

One program graduate shared his experience in the program, and how it changed perception of himself and encouraged him to apply to college instead of going into the military.  He shared that he will be starting at San Francisco State University in the fall and is planning to study nursing or psychology in hopes of becoming a pediatrician in the future.  Another program graduate shared her experience of the program, which allowed her to focus her interest in psychology to becoming a psychotherapist in the future.  She also spoke of her continued involvement with RAMS through joining the Youth Council and starting her own youth-led organization that builds on what she learned in Summer Bridge, called the Bridge Project.  

The presentation was enthusiastically received by the audience who asked numerous questions and expressed excitement for this novel approach to increasing cultural competence in the field of mental health. Several audience members were eager to find out how to implement similar programs in their communities, which bodes well for the future of our profession.  

Christina Shea speaking about the need for programs such as Summer Bridge

Yuka Hachiuma describes the Summer Bridge program

Trainings & Presentations in June 2011

CELEBRATING API CULTURES

WHEN: Thursday, June 16, 2011. 9:30am - 1:00pm
WHERE: Support for Families of Children with Disabilities, 1663 Mission Street, 7th Floor
WHAT: Together with Asian Pacific Islander Family Resource Network (APIFRN) and other API-focused service providers in the community, RAMS shall once again be co-leading a Cultural Competency training on June 16, 2011 titled "Celebrating API Cultures". The aim of the workshop is to increase awareness of and sensitivity to the complexity of how culture of origin and immigration interface with family's priorities and needs. Panelists will represent the Cambodian, Chinese, Filipino, Japanese, Korean, Laotian, Samoan, and Vietnamese cultures, and food selections from all ethnic groups will be served for lunch.

Click on the image above to enlarge the flyer.

NURTURING THE NEXT GENERATION OF CULTURALLY COMPETENT CLINICIANS

WHEN: Monday June 27 - Tuesday June 28, 2011

WHERE: Doubletree by Hilton San Jose, 2050 Gateway Place San Jose, CA 95110

WHAT:  This will be a workshop by RAMS at the Northern Region Cultural Competency Summit - 'Promoting Equity in Health Services: The Power of Community Based Solutions'.  Learn about the pilot year of the RAMS Summer Bridge program, a summer mentorship program for under-represented San Francisco high school students designed to increase awareness of psychological well-being and foster interest in pursuing a career in the helping professions.  This will be presented by RAMS Summer Bridge Program Coordinator Yuka Hachiuma, LMFT, and RAMS Deputy Chief & Director of Clinical Services Christina Shea, LMFT.

May 10 is Asian Pacific American Mental Health Day!

PRESS RELEASE - RAMS Honors Asian Pacific American Mental Health Day - May 10

Who: Honorable Edwin M. Lee, Mayor, City and County of San Francisco
Kavoos G. Bassiri, President and CEO, Richmond Area Multi-Services

Where: State Building
455 Golden Gate Ave, Milton Marks Auditorium (Lower Level)
San Francisco, CA, 94102

When: Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Press Time (9:00 – 9:30 am)

What:
SAN FRANCISCO – In honoring this year’s Asian Pacific American Mental Health Day on May 10th, Richmond Area Multi-Services, Inc. (RAMS) is holding an all day training event Asian Pacific American Mental Health: Knowing Our Roots and Growing Beyond.

To kick-off the event, Mayor Edwin M. Lee will be addressing 200+ guests on the importance of mental health and the Asian Pacific American community. Board of Supervisor Eric Mar is scheduled to also address the audience in the early afternoon. This all-day training features an exciting panel of presenters that are recognized leaders, trailblazers, and legends in the field of mental health and working with Asian Pacific Americans:
• Leland Y. Yee, Ph.D, California State Senator; Psychologist
• Alvin N. Alvarez, PhD, Professor, Dept. of Counseling, SF State University; Past President, Asian American Psychological Association
• Jean Lau Chin, PhD, ABPP, Professor, Adelphi University
• DJ Ida, PhD, Executive Director, National Asian American Pacific Islander Mental Health Association
• Stanley Sue, PhD, Professor of Psychology and Director, Center on Excellence in Diversity, Palo Alto University

Asian American Mental Health Facts:
• Approximately 25% of Americans in a given year are impacted by mental health conditions regardless of gender, age, race, religion and socioeconomic status (National Institute of Mental Health)
• Asian American girls have the highest rates of depressive symptoms of any racial/ethnic or gender group
• Asian American women ages 15-24 have a higher rate of suicide than Caucasians, African Americans and Latinos in that age group (Center for Disease Control and Prevention/National Center for Health Statistics)
• Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders appear to have extremely low utilization of mental health services relative to other U.S. populations (National Alliance on Mental Illness)
• Among elderly women of all ethnic or racial groups, Asian Americans have the highest suicide rate (Surgeon General’s Call to Action to Prevent Suicide)
• The economic cost of untreated mental illness is more than 100 billion dollars each year in the United States. Without treatment the consequences of mental illness for the individual and society are staggering: unnecessary disability, unemployment, substance abuse, homelessness, inappropriate incarceration, and suicide. (National Alliance on Mental Illness)
• The best treatments for serious mental illnesses today are highly effective; between 70 and 90 percent of individuals have significant reduction of symptoms and improved quality of life with a combination of pharmacological and psychosocial treatments and supports (National Alliance on Mental Illness)

About Asian Pacific American Mental Health Day:

Establishment of Asian Pacific American

Mental Health Day in 2010

The establishment of Asian Pacific American Mental Health Day was an effort spearheaded by RAMS along with California State Senator Leland Y. Yee, Ph.D. and San Francisco Board of Supervisor

Eric Mar. It was first established in 2010, as declared by the State of California and the City and County of San Francisco, recognizing the importance of raising awareness about mental health in the Asian Pacific American community.

   

On the floor of the State Senate

“Since May is already established nationally as the Asian Pacific American Heritage Month and Mental Health Awareness Month, instituting this day in May more closely aligns both awareness efforts,” says Kavoos G. Bassiri, President and CEO of RAMS, Inc.





CALL FOR ACTION - Honoring Asian Pacific American Mental Health Day on May 10

Richmond Area Multi-Services, Inc. (RAMS) is reaching out to the California community to honor and recognize “Asian Pacific American Mental Health Day” on May 10th. The call for action is for community groups, organizations, coalitions, and associations; health advocates or individuals; and public officials & entities, public health departments, and other affiliates to acknowledge this day and the importance of mental health in the Asian Pacific American community by organizing an activity, making an announcement, and/or simply spreading the word to raise awareness.

Starting 2010, and each year thereafter, the State of California and City & County of San Francisco declared May 10th as Asian Pacific American Mental Health Day. This effort was spearheaded by RAMS along with State Senator Leland Y. Yee, Ph.D. and SF Board of Supervisor Eric Mar. Establishment of this day was overwhelmingly supported by many major local, statewide, and national associations and community coalitions. "Since May is already established nationally as the Asian Pacific American Heritage Month and Mental Health Awareness Month, instituting this day in May more closely aligns both awareness efforts," says Kavoos G. Bassiri, President & CEO of RAMS, Inc.

Approximately 25% of Americans in a given year are impacted by mental health conditions regardless of gender, age, race, religion and socioeconomic status, according to the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). “Given the traditionally low rates of mental health utilization within this [Asian American] community, it is our belief that the creation of day to promote greater awareness of the mental health issues facing various Asian American and Pacific Islander communities is a critical and much-needed act of advocacy,” stated Dr. Gordon Nagayama Hall, President of the Asian American Psychological Association.

In honoring Asian Pacific American Mental Health Day in 2011, RAMS is holding an all day training event “Asian Pacific American Mental Health: Knowing Our Roots and Growing Beyond” in San Francisco. The event features an exciting panel of presenters: Dr. Alvin N. Alvarez, Dr. Jean Lau Chin, Dr. DJ Ida, and Dr. Stanley Sue, and facilitated by Kavoos G. Bassiri. Joining the moderated panel discussion is also Dr. Leland Yee, Psychologist and California State Senator. The presenters are recognized leaders, trailblazers, and legends in the field of mental health and working with Asian Pacific Americans. This training is funded by Mental Health Services Act and offered to the community through a collaboration of RAMS and Harm Reduction Therapy Center - Training Institutes.