Why don’t we talk more about how culture affects mental health?

The omnipresence of White people in mental health care has shaped the way we talk about it, says Sahaj Kaur Kohli, founder of the Instagram account Brown Girl Therapy and author of the book But What Will People Say? Her book and her Instagram account tackle the mental health challenges faced by children of immigrants. Kohli spoke to HPH’s Juhie Bhatia about making mental health conversations more sensitive to the diverse cultural norms across communities of color.

Why don’t we talk more about how culture affects mental health? → by Juhie Bhatia

We can’t fix health disparities we don’t see

Researchers often name “small sample size” as an obstacle to studying health disparities. With new methods of collecting and aggregating data on minority groups, Tran Doan says, this isn’t a valid reason anymore—just an excuse.

We can’t fix health disparities we don’t see → by Tran Doan

Can California’s health care providers help solve homelessness?

In June, physician and HPH contributor Jeremy Cygler argued that health care providers’ “health care for the homeless” programs were a nice step but lacked what patients actually need: housing. Taking advantage of new state funds, some California health systems are starting to offer just that, CalMatters reports.

Can California’s health care providers help solve homelessness? → by Marisa Kendall

Snapshot

Researchers found that an injectable asthma medication can stop some allergic reactions in people with food allergies.

An injection can help people with food allergies → by Leah Rosenbaum

What we’re reading this week

“Heat poverty”: a growing threat in India → Think Global Health

Bats are like riddles. The Bat-a-thon aims to solve them → NPR

Energy drinks are everywhere. How dangerous are they? → Vox

Does ‘compostable’ plastic actually break down? Here’s what to know. → The Washington Post

Review: How Not to Kill Yourself → MindSite News

• Related: Q&A with author Clancy Martin on How Not to Kill Yourself → Harvard Public Health

Learn more about the obstacles to getting culturally-competent mental health care in the U.S. by reading our?review of the book Madness,?this story?about?a program called Working on Womanhood, and?this article?on?the migrant mental health experience.

See you next week!

—Jo Zhou