Transparencies July 2021

July 2021: Creating Lasting Change for BIPOC Mental Health

A Message From Our CEO

July marks BIPOC Mental Health Month, a time to promote mental health among Black, indigenous, and all people of color. BIPOC communities experience mental health disparities caused by discrimination, unequal access to care, a lack of culturally and linguistically competent care, and additional stigma. I am proud to announce our Racial Equity Plan, informed by work with a national expert in the field of racial equity and cultural competency, and facilitated discussions among staff. Integral Care is committed to eradicating our own institutional racism and structural inequities.

Advancing racial equity will help ensure that BIPOC communities in Austin-Travis County have access to high-quality mental health services responsive to their needs.

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion expert Oyango Snell at virtual staff conference

The Racial Equity Plan identifies strategies and steps that must be incorporated in all efforts for Integral Care to be successful in advancing racial equity. We have already made significant progress since this time last year when our Board of Trustees appointed a Board/Staff Ad Hoc Committee on Racial Equity. Staff have engaged in multiple educational events and courageous conversations – including 2 virtual conferences aimed at expanding our diversity and inclusion practices, several book clubs and our Diversity & Inclusion Council’s series of 1-hour monthly sessions for staff to teach their co-workers about their culture and identity. We took a deeper look at several staff opportunities to celebrate diversity and improve ourselves and our approach to care in the February issue of Transparencies.

Integral Care will be inviting the community to engage in this work with us. Smith Research & Consulting LLC are performing a racial equity assessment of Integral Care. The consultants will use focus groups, interviews and survey results from a wide range of people to examine racial equity across our services, policies and procedures, environment, workforce and communications. Client access to services (including language access) as well as overall public perception of the agency will also be examined. They will reach out to community members this month to request participation.

Integral Care is committed to creating lasting change for this agency. It is critical that we deliver equitable, person-centered, culturally competent care to ensure that BIPOC communities have access to mental health services responsive to their needs.

David Evans
Chief Executive Officer

HIGHLIGHTS

What Can You Do to Support BIPOC Mental Health?

Combat Stigma

BIPOC communities and cultures have different experiences and attitudes towards mental health. First and foremost, we can all work to destigmatize mental health across cultures. Here are some tips:

Visit Mental Health America for a wealth of fact sheets and information on the cultural factors and treatment issues. You’ll find it broken down by community: Black, Latinx, Asian American/Pacific Islander, Native and Indigenous, multiracial and LGBTQIA+.
Educate family, friends and colleagues about the unique challenges of mental illness within different communities.
Become aware of your own attitudes and beliefs toward BIPOC communities to reduce implicit bias and negative assumptions.
Engage positively with people who experience mental illness.
Promote the evidence that mental health is as important as physical health. Mental illness is a disease of the brain, no different than a disease in any other organ of the body.
Bring awareness to the use of stigmatizing language around mental illness across cultures.

The more we understand other cultures and what makes each of us unique, the better we can reach out to anyone, regardless of culture and background.

Share Local Mental Health Resources for BIPOC Individuals

This list is by no means exhaustive. Myriad support services are available to BIPOC communities in Austin.

24/7 Helpline – Free emotional support in many languages

Integral Care | (512) 472-HELP (4357) – 24 hours a day, 7 days a week | Trained interpreters available

Mental health care, counseling, substance use disorder, and IDD services in many languages

Integral Care | (512) 472-HELP (4357) – Call for an appointment Mon – Fri, 8am – 5pm

For People of Color: healing justice social movement that provides mental health awareness

What’sintheMirror? – Comprehensive Austin Mental Wellness Database and healing through art

For Asian communities: access to emergency shelter, housing, safety planning, counseling and more

Asian Family Support Services of Austin | (877) 281-8371 – Toll-free 24 hours a day, 7 days a week | Services in various languages

For Black community and beyond: monthly virtual forums to support health and well-being

Together We Will Heal | Facebook group

For Muslim community: resources for low income people, refugees and victims of domestic violence

Muslim Community Support Services | 512-240-2257

For Asian community: healthcare navigation services, education and advocacy

Austin Asian Community Health Initiative | (512) 271-5823 – Services in 7 languages

More support groups offering culturally competent care

Integral Care Mental Health Resource Guide

Let’s Talk About Mental Health….No Matter What Language You Speak

In honor of Bebe More Campbell National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month, we created a video series featuring our staff talking about mental health in different cultures. Mental health stigma is prevalent everywhere but unique perceptions and barriers to care exist based on history, culture and background. In the Black community, mistrust of the medical system and hesitation around taking medication is common because of the Tuskegee Study and other unethical medical experiments. In the Latinx community, there can be a lack of understanding about what mental health is or discomfort asking for help or sharing problems with strangers.

Visit Mental Health America for a wealth of information on the cultural factors and brand of stigma various communities face – Asian American/Pacific Islander, Native and Indigenous, Black, Latinx and multiracial people.

There are opportunities to educate and remove barriers to mental health care across all cultures, so everyone has the tools they need to build health and well-being. Check out our BIPOC Mental Health Month Youtube playlist. This week’s videos focus on Black and Latinx communities. Over the remainder of the month, keep an eye out for videos in Mandarin, Urdu, Arabic and Hindi.

We hope you enjoy our series.

Beauty Shop Talk: Post-Pandemic Anxiety

Join us July 21^st for the latest virtual Together We Will Heal forum. Every month, the Central Texas African American Family Support Conference brings you a relaxed and engaging forum to support the health and well-being of our entire community. This month, motivational speaker and KAZI radio personality Kimberly Holiday (a.k.a. Lady Joy) will lead a discussion on post-pandemic anxiety. REGISTER today.

The pandemic has changed our lives and tested our resiliency in every way possible. As we begin to return to some normalcy, we are faced with yet another challenge: post-pandemic anxiety. Join the always lively Lady Joy in the virtual beauty shop to discuss ways to make our return to work, school and society easier.

What’s New

We received Joint Commission re-accreditation. Accreditation is recognized nationwide as a symbol of high-quality services and a commitment to continue improving practices.
We are thrilled about national recognition from CrisisNow for our 911 Call Center collaboration, which helps streamline the entire system of crisis care in our community. Thank you to our first responder friends, City of Austin, Travis County and Austin City Council for all you’ve done to help move this innovation forward.
In case you missed our Mental Health & Well-Being in the LGBTQIA+ Community forum, watch it here and share with others who might be interested. Special thanks to What’sintheMirror? for co-presenting the forum.

TRANSPARENCIES

July 2021: Creating Lasting Change for BIPOC Mental Health

A Message From Our CEO

HIGHLIGHTS

What’s New

Archive