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BIPOC Mental Health Month during COVID19 and BLM
February 1, 2021
Written By: Donna Castelblanco, MBE
Originally published July 10th, 2020.
Nearly every July, you’d find me spending time with my extended family watching soccer games, dancing through night, and eating delicious homemade food. This year, my summer looks and feels very different. I see my family through the laptop screen and there are days where my daily self-care rituals simply won’t do it. I miss my family. I am fortunate that I can talk to my parents about my mental health struggles but that wasn’t always the case. And for many Latinx people, mental health stigma deters families and friends from supporting one another.
In 2008, US Congress began to recognize July as Bebe Moore Campbell National Minority Health Awareness Month to inspire dialogue and real change for underrepresented communities living with mental health challenges.1 Bebe More Campbell was a Philadelphia native, author, journalist, and teacher.1 Every July we honor her work and the efforts of all Black mental health advocates. This July, mental health awareness and advocacy is especially important because COVID19 continues to bring about illness in our Latinx community all the while we are seeking ways to authentically and systematically support the Black Lives Matter movement. Health care and mental health research play vital roles in ethically and justly serving our Latinx community.
“Accurate and culturally competent public health education about COVID19 continues to be ethically imperative as we move into the summer months.”
Every day medical researchers and clinical providers are learning more about COVID19. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, people with certain medical conditions have a higher risk for contracting COVID19. Of those medical conditions, obesity and hypertension are two examples of chronic diseases that are prevalent among Latinx people.2 Moreover, 10% of the Latinx population in the United States are in fair or poor health and 20% of our community under the age of 65 do not have health insurance.2 Our communal struggles with physical health and lack of affordable, quality health care can stir up worries and anxious thoughts. Accurate and culturally competent public health education about COVID19 continues to be ethically imperative as we move into the summer months. Family picnics, traveling to home countries, and other summer traditions ought to change (or temporarily pause). That being said, there are daily routines that cannot change –many of our frontline workers are Latinx and there are occupations (e.g. day laborers) that require in-person interactions making it harder to practice social distancing let alone care for one’s mental health.
“The present wave of activism for the Black Lives Matter movement has motivated the Latinx community to analyze how some Latinx folks benefit from White privilege and discuss how we can eradicate anti-Blackness in the US and in our home countries.”
The present wave of activism for the Black Lives Matter movement has motivated the Latinx community to analyze how some Latinx folks benefit from White privilege and discuss how we can eradicate anti-Blackness in the US and in our home countries. Afro-latinx and Indigenous Latinx people have experienced trauma for generations –this July (and moving forward) we ought to engage in efforts for systematic change and break the cycle to inspire generational resilience. For other Latinx people, it may be the first time you are learning about racial injustice and engaging in social activism. First, welcome! Second, you may be experiencing (heightened) emotions and confusion. Your mental health may affect how you think, act, and feel. Honor this place of discomfort and when you’re ready please continue reading.
Change is difficult and this July 2020 we find ourselves in the midst of many changes that directly and indirectly relate to BIPOC Mental Health Month. I am sharing with you a starter list for ways health care and mental health research can honor BIPOC Mental Health Month and better serve our Latinx community. I encourage you to share these ideas with your community (including family, friends, coworkers, government officials, and policy makers), and please add to the list!
· Incorporate mental health literature by and for BIPOC in medical schools and allied health professional schools
· Require continuing education about mental health in BIPOC communities for all health care providers
· Scholarships to BIPOC students interested in going into the mental health field
· Collaborations between mental health organizations and spaces where Latinx folks already feel comfortable and there is trust in leadership –e.g. churches, nail salons, barbershops, and community centers
· Accessible, affordable mental health education/resources/screenings in Spanish within traditional health care settings and beyond including but not limited to laundromats, grocery stores, or bodegas
· Culturally competent mental health care
· Collaborations between primary care/pediatrics and behavioral health
· Understand and consider issues specific to the Latinx community –i.e. preference to home remedies, religion, legal status, lack of medical trust, and stigma/shame 3
· Peer-reviewed, academic writings available for mental health advocates and activists4
· Hire (native) Spanish-speaking research staff5
· Invite BIPOC professionals to peer review journals –and financially compensate them!4
· Collaborate with BIPOC researchers4
· Apply for a NIH Certificate of Confidentiality especially if you are collecting identifying information5
Below are some resources for you and your Latinx brothers and sisters:
References
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