Table 1 Six core components of the CHATogether initiative
Component | Description and active elements |
|---|---|
Interactive theater | • CHATogether invites members to translate their own child-parent scenarios of conflict into interactive dialogues • Working with mental health clinicians, we created videos on topics such as stigma, emotional management, and various cross-cultural and mental health challenges common among AAPI child-parent dyads. We also created videos relevant to the COVID-19 pandemic, including depression and anxiety in the context of anti-Asian sentiment and hate crimes, substance use in teens during COVID-19, and stressors specific to the AAPI LGBTQ community • Developing and watching dramatized skits invites reflection and dialogue to “make visible the invisible” and fosters transformative processes • Videos are shared for public access through social media channels, such as Youtube, Facebook, Instagram, and Tiktok • CHATogether has created 26 theater skit videos in the first three years since its inception. Representative videos: |
Mental health education | • Through three different media platforms (bilingual flash cards, a graphic novel, and a podcast), we summarized key points embedded in the theater skits, such as social emotional learning and techniques for improved parent–child communication • Figure 2 is a representative panel from a graphic novel demonstrating the concept of mentalization during an AAPI mother–daughter interaction • Communication challenges in AAPI families may include language barriers and cross-cultural differences in emotion expression [32]. To address these unique needs, we developed “feeling flashcards” describing emotions expressed during the theater skits (as exemplified in Fig. 3) • To increase access for bilingual parents and grandparents, we translated all educational materials into several Asian languages including Chinese (Simplified and Traditional), Korean, and Vietnamese |
Research | • We explored the program’s active components through a qualitative approach • Team members and participant-beneficiaries led the research design, data collection, analysis, and presented results at academic conferences during the first three years since the program’s inception (n = 29; e.g., “Bridging the Cultural Divide: The Creative Use of Digital Media to Engage Adolescents and Their Families Around Mental Health” was presented at the 69th American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Annual Meeting |
Community peer support | • Since 2019, we have held a total of 38 CHATogether community events, collaborated with academic institutions, high schools, community-based organizations, and churches (17 local; 17 national, across 10 states; and 4 international, across 3 countries) • Conference attendees spanned between 30 and 200 participants, including adolescents, transitional age youth, and parents from the host AAPI community • In some cases, we invited panel discussants, including mental health providers, medical students/trainees, school educators, and AAPI community leaders |
Collaboration | • Given the cross-disciplinary approach of CHATogether with the creative arts, we collaborated with community artists, theater members, and filmmakers in the AAPI community to promote mental health • CHATogether clinicians and artists connected through a serendipitous process fueled by word of mouth, mutual solicited interests, and post-event outreach for collaboration • Artists’ creativity synergized with clinicians’ professional knowledge, contributing to the novel intervention. Specifically, creative art delivers a culturally informed content to the AAPI community |
Mentorship | • The dynamic nature of program members spans multiple developmental ages and training levels. When collaborating in a team, junior members benefit from mentorship on career and personal guidance from senior members • Members form workgroups of 3 to 5 to conduct specific activities. Each workgroup is led by an individual in a more advanced career stage such as a psychiatry faculty or trainee. Other workgroup members are more junior in their careers, such as nursing or medical students, undergraduate or high school students • All workgroup members share a common interest in children’s mental health • AAPI mentorship additionally provides support for situations in which members experience anti-Asian sentiment in their communities |