May is Mental Health Awareness Month

AAHI Community,
May is Mental Health Awareness month, what do you know about mental health and Asian Americans? Below are some facts from the National Alliance on mental health and Asian Americans:
• "Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders have the lowest rates of utilization of mental health services among ethnic populations"
• "Among elderly women of all ethnic or racial groups, Asians have the highest suicide rate"
• "According to mental health care providers: Asian American women ages 15-24 have a higher rate of suicide than Caucasians,African Americans and Latinos in that age group"
• "Many Southeast Asian refugees are at risk for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) associated with trauma experienced before and after immigration to the United States."

Mental health problems can affect anyone, no matter race, ethnicity, gender or age. In this months outreach efforts, AAHI has employed various tactics to help educate community members on mental health.

Thursday, May 12- AAHI attended the Wellness and Recovery Resource Fair at the Executive Office Building in Rockville. AAHI brought their wheel of health education focusing on mental health. The wheel is an interactive method of engaging the community in health education.


Saturday, May 14- AAHI attended the Annual Women's Event. This event was a wonderful and interactive event for women, filled with education, information, screenings and various interactive demonstrations. AAHI set up a table with their wheel of health education focusing on mental health.


Thank you to our partners for allowing us participate at both of these outreach events.

For Mental Health Awareness month, AAHI has published educational articles on mental health in the Washington Chinese News and the Korea Daily. Thank you to both of our media partners for working with us to publish these articles.