A group of young people is leading an effort to rethink how to address the mental health of youth of color.
In collaboration with Lurie Children’s Hospital, young researchers from the racial justice organization United Communities conducted a study focused on the mental health and well-being of black and brown youth in Chicago. The report titled “Changing the Pace of Mental Health” identifies mental health challenges and provides recommendations on how to deal with them.
key findings of the report include:
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Young men of color see a deep connection between systemic inequalities and mental health, often internalizing blame.
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Youth of color feel that systems are not built to support them and are unable to share their full experiences and emotions without negative repercussions.
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Young people of color want to be seen for their full identities and leadership potential.
Overall, 66% of young men surveyed reported facing challenges with their mental health.
“We face challenges every day, and life itself is hard for a lot of young men in general, but especially young men of color,” said Jermal Rey, 17, one of the young researchers.
A group of 15 young men of color between the ages of 14 and 21 led the study by conducting surveys, interviews, and focus groups.
“To transform systems, we must ensure that youth voices and perspectives are at the center of the conversation. I know that in a pediatric hospital the voice of young people is fundamental to the programs that we have, they inform our programs, our policies and for us to have the lasting impact that we want to have with the communities, it is very important that the voice of young people is raised. and prioritized,” said Renee Walker, senior director of community health initiatives and program development for the Patrick M. Magoon Institute for Healthy Communities at Lurie Children’s Hospital.
The report also identified a normalization of trauma among youth of color. Rey says that the prevalence of violence in communities contributes to this normalization.
“Just coming into an area of the West Side is often basically referred to as trouble or violence, and that’s the trauma that’s implemented in those communities, so the trauma is being around the violence so much, and it’s also normal to know that someone is being shot or someone is being killed, and making that normal is basically something that we don’t want to continue to have in our communities,” Walker said.
Rey says that creating spaces for young people to address and recover from trauma can improve mental health and well-being. The report highlights several recommendations for the mental health care system, including bringing in more mental health professionals who are people of color.
“One of the things that we recommend is having referral programs for youth of color with the lived experiences that the youth identified in the report, so that referral programs can engage and become mental health professionals,” Walker said.
Walker says that Lurie Children’s Hospital plans to continue working with Communities United to identify actionable next steps while keeping youth at the center of future projects.
