Mental Health

NBCI is Creating Mental Health Wellness Churches

.pdf 5.7mb There is a mental health crisis in the Black and Latino communities and there seems to be no plan to deal with it – until now.

NBCI’s Mental Health Initiative is scientific-based, ensuring that we cover all the psychological ramifications of COVID-19, the depression and anxiety suffered by millions of Blacks and Latinos over gun violence, poverty, and the opioid crisis. NBCI’s mental health program empowers each state to answer the need of these communities with a bold and innovative program like the one that we are presenting.

NBCI’s Mental Health Initiative is a part of a comprehensive initiative which is called the NBCI National Clinical Trial Strategic Plan. Our plan is based upon a 3–5-year initiative looking at all aspects of the mental health needs where our faith-based communities are located in our state and others. The nature of this plan is to utilize the vast knowledge of NBCI’s clinical team to look within its 27.7 million African Americans and utilize them as part of our continuous efforts under our Health Emergency Declaration Health Model, utilizing the resources within our faith-based community.

NBCI Highlighting the State of Mental Health for African American and Latino Communities: Insights, Intersectionality, and Initiative of What We Know and Need to Be Able to Do

.pdf 674kb Disparate access to mental health services for African American and Latino communities requires intentional efforts to address holistically the well-being needs for these traditionally underserved groups. While decades of research document these disparities, researchers share varying views on the degree to which various variables influence these inequities. Nonetheless, religion is identified as a conduit for being able to cope with challenges associated with mental health, particularly as it relates to cultural background. Researchers call for actively involving clergy and the church in the delivery of health services to offset the effects of racial discrimination and increase access to professional mental health services.

The Economic Burden of Mental Health Inequities in the United States Report

Building upon three landmark reports (Mental Health: A Report of the Surgeon General, the President’s New Freedom Commission on Mental Health, and the Economic Burden of Health Inequalities in the United States), this study is intended to help us shed a light on an issue that we, as a country, have not before been able to wrap our arms around: understanding the economic impact of our failure of over 165 years since the passage of the Bill for the Benefit of the Indigent Insane4 to invest in equity-focused behavioral health interventions, services, treatments, supports, and programs.

We know that there is a reason for the dearth of mental and behavioral health policies in this country and a dearth of investments by our government and commercial interests in this arena. We also understand, from a political determinants of health standpoint, that health equity-focused policies, especially equity-focused mental and behavioral health policies have not ever been prioritized in the United States unless they are tied to an economic or national security argument.

Satcher Health Leadership Institute at Morehouse School of Medicine Releases First-Ever Report Demonstrating the Devastating Cost of Mental Health Inequities

ATLANTA – September 7, 2022 – The Satcher Health Leadership Institute at Morehouse School of Medicine (SHLI), with support from Otsuka America Pharmaceutical, Inc., a leader in mental health, today released the executive summary for The Economic Burden of Mental Health Inequities in the United States Report. SHLI looked at a four-year period (2016-2020) and found, at minimum, nearly 117,000 lives and approximately $278 billion could have been saved. The full report will be released and available for download in the coming days.

“Investing in mental healthcare saves lives and dollars — we have known this for decades, but until now did not fully understand the monumental impacts of neglecting to act,” said Daniel Dawes, professor and executive director of the Satcher Health Leadership Institute at Morehouse School of Medicine and author of the Political Determinants of Health. “For the first time, there is tangible evidence demonstrating how decades of systemic health inequities have yielded significantly worse outcomes for racial and ethnic minoritized, marginalized, and under resourced populations.”