July 2012 is National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month

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In May 2008 the US House of Representatives proclaimed July as Bebe Moore Campbell National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month. The resolution, sponsored by Rep. Albert Wynn [D-MD] and cosponsored by a large bipartisan group, was passed in recognition that:

  • Improved access to mental health treatment and services and public awareness of mental illness are of paramount importance;and
  • An appropriate month should be recognized as Bebe Moore Campbell National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month to enhance public awareness of mental illness and mental illness among minorities.

The month was named after Bebe Moore Campbell as she was an accomplished author, advocate, co-founder of NAMI Urban Los Angeles and national spokesperson, wImageho passed away in November 2006.  She received NAMI’s 2003 Outstanding Media Award for Literature for the book Sometimes My Mommy Gets Angry, written especially for children, about a young girl who learns how to cope with her mother’s bipolar illness. In 2005, her novel 72-Hour Hold focused on an adult daughter and a family’s experience with the onset of mental illness. It helped educate Americans that the struggle often is not just with the illness, but with the healthcare system as well.

Campbell advocated for mental health education and support among individuals with mental illness and their families of diverse communities.

Throughout the month of July, we encourage you to learn more about mental health issues and what you can do.  If you would like to get more involved in activities this month, contact Center staff member, Antonia Correa, at (402) 559-3670 or via email at: acorrea@unmc.edu.

Talk about it.  Leave us a comment, Facebook us, or Tweet us @UNMCCRHD using the hashtag: #MinorityMentalHealth.

NAMIWalk is tomorrow! Make plans to join us!

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NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness (Nebraska), will hold their annual walk tomorrow morning, Saturday, June 9, 2012 at Midtown Crossing in Turner Park.  The walk will begin at 9am.  All are welcome to join our CRHD Cultural Walkers Team headed by Antonia Correa.  For more information, you can reach her at (402) 559-9660 or via email at: acorrea@unmc.edu.

Mental illness impacts the lives of at least one in four adults and one in 10 children—or 60 million Americans, and mental illnesses represent one of the leading causes of disability in the United States.  View NAMI’s newest PSA.

NAMI Nebraska is a nonprofit, grassroots organization dedicated to education, support and advocacy with anyone whose life has been touched by mental illness.  NAMI Nebraska helps unite parents, spouses, siblings, friends and people who have a mental illness together with mental health professionals to fight for improved treatment, a better quality of life and recovery. 

 We hope to see you tomorrow for this great cause!

Thanks for participating in World No Tobacco Day’s online activities

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We would like to thank everyone who participated in our online social media information and advocacy project for World No Tobacco Day (WNTD)!  As part of this project, the Center was able to reach more than 600 people through:

  • 5 Blog posts; 22 comments
  • 94 Facebook posts; 10 new Fans to the Center page
  • 77 Tweets

Tobacco use is one of the leading preventable causes of death. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the global tobacco epidemic kills nearly 6 million people each year, of which more than 600,000 are people exposed to second-hand smoke. Unless we act, it will kill up to 8 million people by 2030, of which more than 80% will live in low- and middle-income countries.  Every year, World No Tobacco Day (May 31), is geared to be a 24-hour abstinence from tobacco and all its products is encouraged throughout the world. WNTD also hopes to draw attention to widespread tobacco use, the health hazards that stem from it, and this year the tobacco industry’s interference. 

We hope that this is just the beginning and that everyone will continue to be involved in the tobacco control movement!

Family Dollar ≠ Family Values – Starting to Sell Tobacco in 2012

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In a briefing for Wall Street analysts last month, Family Dollar executives said they plan to begin selling tobacco for the first time in the company’s 53-year history. The North Carolina-based discount chain is in more than 7,000 neighborhoods nationwide. Smoking in the United States increasingly has become concentrated among lower income populations, a group who smokes at a higher rate than the population as a whole – and who suffers disproportionately from smoking-caused diseases. The smoking rate among adults living below the poverty level is 28.9 percent, compared with 18.3 percent for adults living above the poverty level, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Lower-income populations are also more likely to be exposed to secondhand smoke.

Tobacco is not an equal opportunity killer. For years, tobacco products have been disproportionately marketed to low socio-economic and minority youth and adults, and evidence has clearly shown that exposure to tobacco advertising can lead to youth smoking initiation. The prevalence of current smoking is greatest among adults with working class jobs, low educational levels, low income, and those who are unemployed; groups that comprise the very communities Family Dollar serves. Making tobacco products more broadly available will only exacerbate the risks to those communities already hardest hit by tobacco use and related diseases.

Since today is World No Tobacco Day, we encourage you to get involved and tell the convenience store chain to reverse their decision to sell tobacco products in stores nationwide.  Talk about it.  Leave us a comment, Facebook us, or Tweet us @UNMCCRHD using hashtag: #WNTD2012!

Tobacco Marketing Unfiltered

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Tobacco companies spend the bulk of their marketing money at the retail stores with price discounts, prime product placement to attract buyers, and of course, advertisements. In 2008, of the $9.9 billion spent by cigarette companies on overall promotions, $9.2 billion, or 92 percent, was spent on point of sale advertisements, price discounts, promotional allowances, or special deals such as buy-one-get-one-free offers.

The increasing pervasiveness of tobacco promotion in retail outlets has been well documented. A 2008 study in Tobacco Control found that in California, the number of in-store cigarette advertisements increased from 22.7 to 24.9 between 2002 and 2005. An earlier study of California stores found that nearly 50 percent of the tobacco retailers had tobacco ads at young kids’ eye level (three feet or lower), and 23 percent had cigarette product displays within six inches of candy.

The issue of advertising in retail outlets is important because 75 percent of teens visit a convenience store at least once a week and point-of-purchase advertising and displays have been found to increase average tobacco sales by 12 percent.  A study published in the May 2007 issue of Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, concluded that the more cigarette marketing teens are exposed to in retail stores, the more likely they are to smoke, and that restricting these retail marketing practices would reduce youth smoking.

Tobacco companies are well aware of the impact of their marketing.  Now so are you.  Talk about it.  Leave us a comment, Facebook us, or Tweet us @UNMCCRHD using hashtag: #WNTD2012!   

Source: The Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids,  http://www.tobaccofreekids.org/research/factsheets/pdf/0156.pdf