Asian American Health Initiative April 2018 Newsletter

April 2018

Volume 8, Issue 4

Greetings!

We at the Asian American Health Initiative (AAHI) are excited to finally welcome spring, and with that, a host of new activities and events! Over these past few months, AAHI has been working diligently to prepare for some of our busiest months - and you will soon read about what we have in store! We hope to see you at some of our upcoming events. If you are unable to attend, you can always learn about what you missed by following us on social media! You can find us on AAHI's blog , Facebook , and Twitter !

Register for the ECHO 15 Workshop!

Building Resilience: Community & Individual

Emergency Preparedness

Wednesday, May 23, 2018

Join the Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services (MCDHHS) Office of Community Affairs for our 15th Empowering Community Health Organizations (ECHO) Workshop - "Building Resilience: Community & Individual Emergency Preparedness"!

The ECHO Project is a series of capacity building technical assistance workshops hosted by AAHI, in partnership with the African American Health Program (AAHP), Community Action Agency (CAA), and Latino Health Initiative (LHI).

Did you know that in 2017, there were 16 natural disasters in the United States, which cost $19.3 billion and claimed 362 deaths? In today's world, disaster seems to strike far too often and it is vital for you and your family to be prepared and ready for it all. Join us for this important workshop on emergency and disaster preparedness on Wednesday, May 23, 2018 from 5:30pm to 8:00pm at the Silver Spring Civic Building. This free workshop will feature a panel of experts who will discuss what it actually means to be prepared, what you can expect from the government in a time of disaster, and how you, your family, and your community can develop an emergency plan.

Registration is already in full swing! Please RSVP by Wednesday, May 9, 2018 as space is limited for this workshop. You can register online by clicking the button below. You can also contact Maria Lejano, AAHI Program Assistant, at 240-777-4517 or [email protected]

to register.

To learn more about ECHO, please click here for the workshop summary of our last ECHO Workshop focusing on the importance of planning ahead as we age and understanding the health and financial demands that may arise along with aging.

Participants at our past ECHO workshop.

Photonovel Vol.3,
More Than Just Stress,

Presentations

In our last newsletter, AAHI launched our newest educational photonovel, More Than Just Stress, which focused on the mental health challenges faced by Asian American youth. Since then, AAHI has actively shared this educational tool with Asian American adolescents through community workshops.

AAHI worked with community partners to setup presentations which introduced adolescents to the photonovel, discussed the process used to develop it, and explored the concept of mental wellness. AAHI utilized these presentations as an opportunity to both, educate teens on the need to address and openly discuss mental health in the Asian American community, as well as provide teens with skills to maintain mental wellness.

In total, AAHI reached over one hundred Asian American adolescents through these presentations. The feedback received about both the presentation and the photonovel demonstrates the need for similar efforts which address Asian American youth mental health. Many of the participants commented that the photonovel story line reflects the challenges they are facing in their own life. Moving forward, AAHI hopes to continue working with community partners to build more dialogue around youth mental health. Thank you to those organizations who partnered with AAHI and allowed us to work with their youth!

May is Mental Health Month AND Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month!

Did you know that the month of May marks both Mental Health Month AND the Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month? Mental Health Month was established in 1949 as a means of increasing awareness about the impact of mental health and wellness on the lives of Americans, and to celebrate recovery from mental illness. Since 1978, Asian/Pacific American Heritage Week was celebrated during the first ten days of May. In 1990, it expanded to include the entire month and was renamed, Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month.

In honor of these two observances, AAHI will have a special social media campaign during the month of May! Be sure to check out our Facebook page throughout May for tips on mental wellness, statistics and facts related to Asian American mental health, and information on local mental health resources. We hope you will join us in recognizing these observances by following along with us on our Facebook page, which can be accessed by clicking here.

If you are interested in following AAHI on other social media platforms, you can follow us on Twitter by clicking here and view our community blog by clicking here.

Stay tuned for our first post on May 1st by following our Facebook page today - remember to "like" the page!