Campaign To Raise Awareness About Mental Health in Multicultural Communities Launched (posted 7/21)

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), in collaboration with the Ad Council, launched a national public service advertising (PSA) campaign to promote recovery from mental health problems within multicultural communities by educating and inspiring young adults to talk openly about issues of mental health. The culturally targeted PSAs seek to motivate societal change toward social acceptance and decrease negative attitudes that may surround mental illness. These PSAs are part of a larger multicultural public service effort designed to reach Hispanic/Latino, American Indian, Chinese American, and African American communities during Bebe Moore Campbell National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month. The Center for Mental Health Services Office of Consumer Affairs worked with the National Network to Eliminate Disparities in Behavioral Health (NNED) to develop messages that were culturally informed, meaningful, appealing and acceptable, and utilize means of messaging that have the greatest potential to penetrate and connect with culturally, racially, and ethnically diverse communities. The NNED National Facilitation Center convened a Multicultural Steering Committee (MCSC) comprised of ethnically and racially diverse experts and consumer leaders in the field. "Raising awareness that effective treatments for mental illnesses are available and that people recover, can encourage those in need to seek help," said SAMHSA Administrator Pamela S. Hyde, J.D. "Our goal with this campaign is to open the dialogue about supporting friends or family members with mental health problems in a culturally relevant way."

Each targeted PSA includes a website where consumers can go to find resources and download the PSAs:

• Hispanic/Latino website
• American Indian website
• Chinese American website
• African American website
  

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