On Oct. 6, KYCC presented a workshop entitled “Opening Doors to Health, Wellness and Recover: Korean Integrated Service Management (KISM) Model Program” at the 2017 Asian Pacific Islander Mental Health Empowerment Conference. The conference was organized by the Vietnamese Community Action for Resources & Empowerment (C.A.R.E.) and California State University Fullerton’s Department of Social Work — two organizations that share a commitment to addressing and teaching empowerment at all levels in service of individuals, families and communities.

 

“As an underserved or mostly unserved population, [Asian Pacific Islanders] have the lowest rate of seeking mental help and substance abuse treatment,” Viet-C.A.R.E. Executive Director Lorna Santos-Pham said. “It is our responsibility as professionals in this field to promote and educate the community on this illness.” 

 

In accordance with the theme of empowerment, KYCC’s Clinical Services staff taught conference participants about how to overcome barriers when working with the Korean community around issues of mental health. They delivered their workshop to a group of 10 mental health professionals. 

 

KYCC underwent a competitive process to be selected as a workshop presenter to summarize our expertise in the realm of delivering integrated mental health, physical health and substance abuse programs to the community for the last five years. 

 

“We were eager to share with our colleagues some of the lessons we learned promoting mental health programs in the Korean community,” KYCC Clinical Services Manager Grace Park said. “We hope that our colleagues took away some strategies that they can use with the communities they work with.”