Overview

A focus group study of Vietnamese American mothers in monolingual households was conducted to further study the effectiveness of their messaging in reducing the stigma about mental health in Asian American women demographics. The study aimed to discover information about cultural values, current attitudes, life experiences, influencers within the family, languages used when talking about mental health, barriers to seeking help, and trusted sources of information.

Approach

The participants were recruited via community-based organizations, social media, and word-of-mouth referrals. Their ages range from 26 to 74 years old. 35% of the participants were single mothers. 10% suffered domestic abuse/violence. 15% endured loss of a spouse or child. 85% received some type of public assistance. 

The participants were asked a series of questions in Vietnamese by ArrowGPT moderators, and towards the end, they completed a series of written questionnaires, also in Vietnamese. Participants were also asked to select one out of five messages and provide their reasons for their choice, as well as feedback for improving the messages.

Results

There is a positive trend among the participants towards reducing mental health stigma. The majority of participants are more aware of their own mental health conditions as well as those of their family members. During the COVID years of living in fear and isolation, the participants had the opportunity to absorb mental health information from the media and influential celebrities and witness the impact mental health issues can have on an individual.

Only a small number of older participants still feel ashamed if they need to seek help, although all of them recognize the value of talking to a professional. All participants do not have a negative view of people who seek help and, in fact, a few are actively looking for free counseling themselves.

The fact that the participants talked directly about how mental health issues are more common than they think proves that in a post-COVID society, most people have been convinced through real-life experiences. This finding suggests that the general public does not need convincing about recognizing their own mental health, but rather, how to take action for themselves and their family members.