Blog post originally by: Kenzie Lock
Najma Mohamed, Community Health Nurse at Neighborhood House, and Lesley Steinman, Research Scientist at HPRC, were recently awarded a Tier 1 Pilot Award by the University of Washington Population Health Initiative. This grant program is designed to foster new collaborations among interdisciplinary investigators in generating proof-of-concept for future projects. Mohamed and Steinman’s project, Community Codesign to Integrate Low-Barrier, Culturally and Linguistically Responsive Mental Health Care into Community-Based Social Services, will build on their established community-academic partnership. The two aim to, “[center] the voices and experiences of the social service workforce and participants,” said Steinman.
“Community-academic partnerships are essential to make public health initiatives more impactful, equitable, and sustainable.”
Lesley Steinman
Neighborhood House Nurse
The project will work with and focus on the needs of elder Somali community members across King County, who have difficulty accessing mental health care due to systemic exclusion from care and community stigma. “Many topics surrounding mental health are stigmatized and hidden away out of shame, despite many people in our [Somali] community needing that support. Although this is beginning to shift with our youth, helping our elders heal remains critical,” said Mohamed.
Mohamed and Steinman’s project will provide evidence for community-based integrated mental health programming and lay a foundation to expand anti-racist human-centered design research. Mohamed stated, “Our goal for the future is further destigmatizing and increasing culturally appropriate mental health services for all clients we serve. Mental health is important, and we commit to advocating for the equitable use of these services.”
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