In celebration of Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month and Mental Health Awareness Month this May, the Yale Compassionate Home, Action Together (CHATogether) team created an educational video titled “Building a Stronger Future Together: Understanding the Bio-Psycho-Social-Cultural Impact of Racism to the AAPI Community.”
CHATogether, founded and directed by Yale Assistant Professor Eunice Yuen, MD, PhD, is a culturally-informed and family-oriented program using drama vignettes as educational tools to promote emotional wellness in Asian-American children, young adults, and parents.
“Collective celebration of culture can result in communal health and building resiliency,” commented Yuen. “This is an important educational resource that everyone needs to learn from and share.”
Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, many Asian American leaders have stepped forward to speak out as children, women, and elderly have been tragically targeted by anti-Asian hate crimes. “Such vulnerability in the AAPI community remains even now, impacting our children, youth, and families,” said Yuen. May 20, 2023 will mark the two-year anniversary of the federal COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act that focused squarely on anti-Asian hate violence.
“We strive to build cultural humility and also collective celebration of culture among us, for a better future for generations to come,” commented Yuen. This work is supported by an Assembly/Advocacy and Collaboration Grant from the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.
Video illustration and animation were completed by Elaine Shen, MD, a psychiatry resident at Northwestern University Feinberg. Yuen provided supervision and cultural consultation, and the voiceover was provided by Vivien Chan, MD, associate clinical professor at the University of California Irvine.