event

Event Archive | Shared Resources (General)

Topic:  Celebrating National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month with Tenemos Voz, New Mexico: Building Latino/Hispano Networks

Date: Thursday, June 24, 2010

Time:5:00 - 6:30 p.m. Eastern Time / 4:00 - 5:30 p.m. Central Time

3:00 - 4:30 p.m. Mountain Time / 2:00 - 3:30 p.m. Arizona-Pacific Time 

Speakers: 

Gilberto Romero

John Duran

Erick Pacheco

Angelica Garcia

Introduction:

Studies have shown that older Hispanic adults and youth are especially vulnerable to the stresses of immigration and acculturation. Many older Hispanic Americans find the strain of acculturation overwhelming.  Traditional values and beliefs for these individuals are often at odds with new cultural experiences; a stress often intensified by lack family support and language barriers.

Latino/Hispanic youth also have been found to be at risk for higher levels of emotional distress because of the pressures to assimilate into new cultural surroundings as well as facing issues of inequality, poverty, and discrimination.  Studies have found that Hispanic/ Latino youth experience many of the same emotional problems created by marginalization and discrimination, but without the security of strong identity and traditional values held by their parents.

Disparities in access, quality and availability of public mental health services exist for all racial and ethnic minority Americans.  State mental health agencies must develop effective, culturally competent services and supports for an increasingly diverse consumer population in order to eliminate these disparities.

In order to bring about this change we have to take both personal and social responsibility in making the healthcare system responsive to our needs and to create a public health approach to wellness that focuses on preserving human dignity and addressing our most important mental health needs for both individuals and communities. 

The Tenemos Voz: National Latino Consumer Network was created to form a unified voice; to have representation on all policy and decision making bodies that affect the lives of Latino families across the country.  As individuals with lived experience of mental health recovery, we play a crucial role in transforming the mental health system in America.

During this call, participants will have the opportunity to hear and discuss:

• A brief overview on the importance of creating a National Latino Consumer Network
• Learn about Tenemos Voz National, and their goal to organize the voice of Latinos who face disparities within the mental health system in order to bring about change.
• Learn from Tenemos Voz New Mexico, the state organization committed to promoting wellness for people and communities, and the importance of working in collaboration with Tenemos Voz National to help reduce stigma and educate the community about mental health services.
• The plans of Tenemos Voz New Mexico to implement the 6 dimensions of wellness that will bring about change for people in our communities using a public health approach to organize, access  people and communities to improve their healthcare needs and issues:  Physical, Emotional, Spiritual, Social, Occupational, and Intellectual .
• Apoyo Latino Style and the influence it has among our peers and their families
• Building Recovery through education and ongoing support

AUDIO

The STAR Center gratefully acknowledges SAMHSA as the funding source for the STAR Center’s work and activities. Please visit SAMHSA/CMHS at http://mentalhealth.samhsa.gov/cmhs for many helpful resources, self-help tools and guides, and links.

The STAR Center promotes consumer-directed approaches that maximize self-determination and recovery and assist people with serious mental health challenges to decrease their dependence on expensive social services as well as to avoid psychiatric hospitalization.

Empowerment     -       Independence   -     Responsibility    -     Choice     -   

  Respect and Dignity

“Let your Star shine!”

The views and opinions that may be presented and discussed during the teleconference will not necessarily reflect those of SAMHSA or the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and should not be construed as such.

www.consumerstar.org