In honor of World Mental Health Day—October 10, 2018—KYCC’s Clinical Services unit launched “#KYCCCanHelp,” a trilingual mental health awareness campaign for the Koreatown community.
This year’s WMHD theme is “Young People and Mental Health in a Changing World.”
KYCC has provided mental health services to the Koreatown community since its inception in 1975. In keeping with our goal to provide a broad continuum of high quality and culturally relevant clinical services for low-income families, our campaign is in three languages—English, Spanish and Korean—to target the immigrant population in our community who are unserved and underserved.
Our trilingual mental health awareness campaign seeks to raise awareness about mental health resources available through KYCC’s Clinical Services Program. We provide behavior rehabilitation, psychotherapy, medication support services, substance abuse prevention, family-based case management, child abuse prevention and more. We want more people in our community to know “it’s okay to reach out” and get the help they need to lead a positive and healthy life.
“The goal of KYCC’s campaign is to take away the stigma of mental illness, particularly for immigrant communities in Koreatown that often hesitate to access services,” explains Eric Ji, Korean Integrated Services Management Model Program. “We were very deliberate in making this campaign trilingual, so that it could reach our monolingual community members to let them know mental health services are available for them.”
As part of the campaign, KYCC was fortunate to partner with Studio Number One—the creative agency of Shepard Fairey, a world-renowned artist well-known by youth for his Obama “Hope” poster and his OBEY clothing company, to produce trilingual posters. These English, Korean and Spanish posters will be distributed to local business owners—restaurants, coffee shops and small businesses—for display. Members of KYCC’s outreach team will begin visiting local businesses this month to explain the campaign and ask for participation.
Studio Number One’s innovative art-based design, provocative graphics and original storytelling created images that would reach audiences across linguistic barriers. Using modern design and typography, bold colors and an uplifting tagline “It’s okay to reach out,” designers at Studio Number One and KYCC worked closely to create a concept that would be visually attractive to youth, while remaining positive and non-stigmatizing.
“Our goal is that those individuals who need help will see our poster, come to our website and ultimately get connected to the services they need,” states Grace Park, KYCC Clinical Services Manager.
The “#KYCCCanHelp” campaign is being funded by the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health and the Mental Health Services Act.
Integrated Service Management Model (KISM) services are appropriate for Korean clients in the Los Angeles area who are experiencing 1) primary mental health conditions as well as 2) substance abuse and/or chronic physical health issues. This program is designed to serve the multiple needs of families who are unserved and underserved due to stigma, lack of insurance and limited access to culturally and linguistically appropriate services.
Here is a Fact Sheet on Adolescent Mental Health from the World Health Organization. Some key facts:
- One in six people are aged 10–19 years.
- Mental health conditions account for 16% of the global burden of disease and injury in people aged 10–19 years.
- Half of all mental health conditions start by 14 years of age but most cases are undetected and untreated.
- Globally, depression is one of the leading causes of illness and disability among adolescents.
- Suicide is the third leading cause of death in 15–19 year olds.
- The consequences of not addressing adolescent mental health conditions extend to adulthood, impairing both physical and mental health and limiting opportunities to lead fulfilling lives as adults.
- Mental health promotion and prevention are key to helping adolescents thrive.
If you find that you or someone you know is experiencing moderate to severe disturbances in thought and/or behavior and is unable to cope with daily responsibilities and routine, it may be helpful to seek professional help. If you are interested in how to receive clinical services at KYCC, please go to this website for more information. https://www.kyccla.org/services/clinical-services/how-to-receive-services/
Related Media
To watch the KBS America News story broadcast in Korean on our mental health awareness campaign, please click here.
For Korea Daily news story in Korean on our mental health awareness campaign, please click here.
For Newsis news story in Korean on our mental health awareness campaign, please click here.
For Korea Times news story in Korean on our mental health awareness campaign, please click here.
For Koreatown Daily story in Korean on our mental health awareness campaign, please click here.
For Radio Korea story in Korean on our mental health awareness campaign, please click here.
For Radio Seoul story in Korean on our mental health awareness campaign, please click here.
