Understanding Cultural Competency in Prevention Efforts
A key factor in better serving communities of color begins by addressing our own cultural competency. Improving cultural competency is the first step in understanding health equity and health disparities across the United States.

Being able to understand and engage with someone else’s point of view based on their environment and culture is a key element of community-based engagement practices. Learn how you can better connect with a wide range of cultures and communities by reviewing best practices from the field.
Pride Month Highlights Need for
 LGBTQ+ Engagement
Pride Month is the opportunity for everyone to celebrate and reflect on the advancement of LGBTQ+ rights and public perception. Recent judicial affirmations in support of the rights of LGBTQ+ people are worth celebrating but do little to address the long-standing systematic disparities in mental and physical health treatment available to this unique community of Americans.

The National Alliance on Mental Illness compiled a toolkit of resources for professionals working directly with LGBTQ+ individuals to improve mental health and substance misuse initiatives. While there is no “one-size-fits-all” approach to working with the diverse range of LGBTQ+ communities, it makes the world of difference to have a solid starting point based on community-engagement best practices, evidenced-based literature, and an empathetic approach to policy determination.
How Behavioral Health Disparities
Jeopardize People of Color
The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted everyone in some way, but did you know that certain demographics of the United States are bearing the brunt of the effects more than others? New studies from the CDC and SAMHSA show that the pandemic has disproportionately affected Black, Latinx, and other communities of color. Due to existing social, political, and economic conditions, people of color are less likely to have access to care, more likely to experience financial hardship as a result, and are prone to medical high-risk factors that significantly outweigh those impacting other Americans. 

Learn what these studies illustrate about how long-standing racial and socioeconomic disparities have contributed to the impact of the novel coronavirus on communities of color across the country. Understanding the context behind why these injustices continue to occur is instrumental in creating meaningful policy change and community-involvement strategies that work towards long-term health equity for all. 
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