July is National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month and the month offers organizations of all types and sizes a wonderful opportunity to create mental health awareness in diverse communities. The US House of Representatives proclaimed July as this special month in 2008, aiming to improve access to mental health treatment and services through increased public awareness. Since then, many organizations have hosted a variety of events and activities in communities across the country each year. The National Network to Eliminate Disparities (a SAMHSA-supported initiative) and the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) have partnered to create webinars, share resources, and highlight related opportunities celebrating the month. You can watch the webinar recordings from past years below.
Ways to get involved
- National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month Facebook page
- Tweet using #MinorityMentalHealth
- Take the pledge to raise awareness
- Mental Health America (MHA) hosts a campaign to raise mental health awareness in marginalized and underserved communities for NMMHAM – this year’s campaign is #MyHealthMyWay!
Webinar recordings and Twitter chat transcripts:
- Collection of Webinars from the National Network to Eliminate Disparities in Behavioral Health (2010-Present)
- Talking about Mental Health in Diverse Communities Twitter Chat from MHA (2018)
- National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month Twitter Chat (2015)
- National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month Follow-up Twitter Chat (2014)
- Celebrating National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month Webinar and Twitter Chat (2014)
- National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month Planning Webinar (2014)
- Our Strength & Support: Celebrating National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month (2013)
- Planning and Preparing for National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month (2013)
- National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month History & Highlights Webinar (2013)
Resources to learn from and share:
- Find information on finding support for mental health with a specific focus on diverse communities from the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI)
- Información sobre salud mental de NIMH en español (mental health information from the National Institute of Mental Health in Spanish)
- Mental health information from MedlinePlus – mental health information from the MedlinePlus in multiple languages
- Understanding the Barriers to Minority Mental Health Care written/created by Nursing@USC, the online Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP) program
- 55 Mental Health Resources for People of Color created by Online MSW Programs, powered by 2U, Inc.. This site was designed to help prospective social work students learn more about the career possibilities with a Master’s in Social Work and to provide helpful resources to communities regarding important social issues.
- Cultural & Linguistic Competence (CLC) Resource Library for Eliminating Behavioral Health Disparities from the University of South Florida (USF)
- Learn more about minority mental health considerations and view materials in English and Spanish (ver materiales en inglés y en español) from Mental Health America (MHA)
- View resources about minority mental health and health disparities from the Office of Minority Health (OMH), including sharable graphics in English and Spanish (ver gráphicos en español)
- Racial Trauma in Film: How Viewers Can Address Re-traumatization from The Family Institute at Northwestern
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