How to Support Culturally-Led Mental Health Programs
Black, Indigenous, and People of Color experience disproportionately high rates of mental health and substance use disorders. Yet, they often have less access to treatment and supportive services than other groups, due to higher levels of racism, systemic oppression, and trauma. Additional factors such as a lack of Black, Latinx, Asian, and Indigenous providers in the workforce, misdiagnosis due to unconscious bias, language barriers, and uninsurance also disproportionately keep communities of color from receiving high-quality mental health care.
Culturally-led programs developed for and by the communities they intend to serve are key to improving mental health outcomes for communities of color. Yet, these programs can be hard to find and do not have the resources necessary to expand and scale, or evaluate their impact. Philanthropy is uniquely positioned to come together and support what have been traditionally viewed as risky models to reap outsized rewards in this area of urgent need.
To read the full article, including ways that funders can identify and promote these models, click here.
*Editor’s note: Since releasing this original blog in February 2022, our team’s thinking and language has evolved. Instead of “culturally informed,” we believe that the term “culturally-led” best describes programs that are developed for and by the communities they intend to serve. For more on our methodology, visit https://www.mindfulphilanthropy.org/culturallyledprograms to download our funder guide, For the Community, by the Community: How Philanthropy Can Support Culturally-Led Mental Health Programs.
