Tuesday, May 7, 2024
5/7/2024
Sinai Health System of Chicago, Illinois, is proposing Promoting Awareness of Mental Health in Chicago’s Underserved Communities (PAMH), a train-the-trainer program with the overarching goal to increase mental health awareness among individuals who interact and come into contact with persons with a serious mental illness (SMI) or serious emotional disturbance (SED) in underserved communities in West and Southwest Chicago. To achieve this goal, the PAMH project will train 80 unduplicated individuals per year for a total of 240 individuals trained by the end of the grant. Sinai has identified individuals from low-income, minority, immigrant, and deaf and/or hard of hearing (DHH) communities as the populations of focus. The most frequently reported clinical characteristics in the geographic catchment area are depression (48%), anxiety (36%), acculturative stress (34%), need for parental support (29%), trauma (27%), anger (23%), feelings of isolation (23%), and need for relationship support (19%) (CMHA, 2017). Sinai’s Under the Rainbow Program (UTR), which has functioned as part of the outpatient programs of the Sinai Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health, has identified that 11% have been diagnosed with depression, 5% have anxiety disorders, 5% have bipolar disorders, 5% have oppositional defiant disorder, and, disturbingly, 7% have experienced post-traumatic stress disorders. As high as 85% of people surveyed in some communities witnessed or experienced traumatic events. In the adult population, Sinai sees high incidence of medical co-morbidities and high-risk behaviors leading to involvement with the justice system, disability, hospitalizations, and substance abuse. Four Sinai behavioral health clinicians will become certified as Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) and Crisis Intervention Training (CIT) trainers for a broad and diverse training audience. The target audience to receive mental health awareness training includes individuals who are likely to encounter the focus populations, such as teachers, school personnel, parents, faith leaders, and community leaders. Additionally, the project will train individuals whose immediate response could be critical in the resolution of a situation, such as police, first responders, and health care promoters (e.g., primary care physicians and health care coordinators). The measurable objectives are to 1) increase the aptitude of mental health literacy, 2) improve the cultural competency of the training audience, and 3) improve knowledge of resources and increase referrals for individuals with the signs or symptoms of mental illness.
HHS’ Tracking Accountability in Government Grants System (TAGGS) website provides access to detailed descriptions of grants, loans, aggregated direct payments and other types of financial assistance awarded by the HHS Operating Divisions (OPDIVs) and the Office of the Secretary Staff Divisions (STAFFDIVs).
