Prioritizing Equitable Mental Health Care
About the Community Health Equity Alliance
The Community Health Equity Alliance (CHEA) prioritizes community-informed solutions that address serious mental illness (SMI) care at the state and local levels in select geographies. CHEA brings together organizations and thought leaders in mental health advocacy, faith, civic, and healthcare professional services. We aim is to improve the trusted delivery and pursuit of equitable mental health care for Black/African ancestry adults in the United States.
Addressing Mental Health Disparities
Established in 2021 by 19 collaborating organizations and Janssen Neuroscience, four coalitions in North Carolina, Texas, Georgia, and California formed to provide tailored programs and resources to improve access and advocacy for equitable and culturally responsive mental health care for Black/African Ancestry adults living with SMI.
1 https://www.psychiatry.org/File%20Library/Psychiatrists/Cultural-Competency/Mental-Health-Disparities/Mental-Health-Facts-for-African-Americans.pdf
2 https://www.samhsa.gov/data/report/2020-nsduh-detailed-tables
NAMI will spearhead the evolution of CHEA activities moving forward, supported by a sponsorship from Janssen Neuroscience. Our focus remains on critical areas, including improving care navigation, elevating crisis mitigation, 988 utilization, and increasing SMI education for Black/African Ancestry adults. These synergistic initiatives will integrate into NAMI’s core programs, Sharing Hope and FaithNet.
Together, we can change these statistics and improve equitable mental health care for Black/African ancestry adults in the United States.
Our Collaborators
CHEA brings together state and local mental health stakeholders in California, Georgia, Texas, and North Carolina.
Coalitions were formed based on unmet needs at the state level impacting care for diverse patient communities, including:
- Prevalence of SMI
- Rates of access to care for Black adults living with SMI
- Social justice considerations that impact mental healthcare, delivery and services
- Diverse mental health professional shortages
Collaborator resources improve SMI care for Black/African ancestry adults in the United States. State and local programs advocate and strengthen the capacity of communities through outreach focused on adults with lived experience, healthcare providers, caregivers, faith networks and peer support specialists.
- California: CHEA collaborators are strengthening peer support networks, race equity, and system navigation through awareness initiatives and individual journey mapping that support wellness, resilience, and care.
- Georgia: CHEA collaborators are sharing resources to help foster trust, improve navigation of mental health resources and eliminate stigma in various settings, including faith partners, clinical providers and communities. Black/African ancestry pharmacists play an important role in mental health care as core care-team partners and community advocates, including adherence to medication and utilization of services.
- Texas: CHEA collaborators prioritize improving ways to navigate the complex mental health system for crisis and noncrisis levels of care.
- North Carolina: CHEA collaborators provide resources to support adults living with serious mental health conditions and their families through Black/African ancestry congregations, capacity building with faith leaders and resource mobilization.
“NAMI is grateful for the opportunity to advance the importance of equitable mental health care and the sponsorship of Janssen Neuroscience to embrace this important work,” said NAMI CEO Daniel H. Gillison Jr. “We are committed to eliminating health inequities, ensuring that Black/African Ancestry adults living with serious mental illness have access to timely and effective treatment and care when and where they need it. This work is integral to our overall goal to deliver impact and make a real difference in achieving and sustaining care and improving outcomes for those with serious mental illness.”
Janssen Neuroscience is a proud sponsor of the Community Health Equity Alliance.
