Into The Fold: Issues In Mental Health

A recent Lancet study estimates that up to 1.5 million children worldwide have lost at least one primary or secondary caregiver as a result of the pandemic. Indeed, orphanhood and grief are an essential part of the story of this pandemic, one whose impact is just beginning to be understood. In this episode we explore the connection between caregiver death and children’s mental health with Laura Olague, director of Children’s Grief Center of El Paso, a grantee of the Hogg Foundation. In a bonus segment, Ryan Sutton, a former guest of the podcast, offers some timely reflections on Simone Biles and athlete mental health. Related links: Episode 98: COVID-19 and Children's Mental Health https://hogg.utexas.edu/podcast-covid-19-and-childrens-mental-health Hogg Foundation Awards $1 Million to Support Children’s Well-being across Texas https://hogg.utexas.edu/hogg-foundation-awards-1-million-to-support-childrens-well-being-across-texas WNBA Athlete Speaks Up on Mental Health in Sports https://hogg.utexas.edu/po

There is mounting evidence that people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) are experiencing more severe COVID-19 outcomes than the general population. In many ways, vaccination is a golden opportunity to address longstanding issues of equity and injustice. Our guest, Dr. Kara Ayers, PhD, is here to help us explore just how true that is for people with disabilities. Dr. Ayers is the Associate Director of the University of Cincinnati Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities, and the co-founder of the Disabled Parenting Project. Related links: Episode 113: Vaccine Equity and Trust https://hogg.utexas.edu/podcast-vaccine-equity-and-trust

At the close of the first session of the Texas legislature to take place during the time of COVID, which had an enormous agenda to cover at breakneck speed, one thing is abundantly clear: meaningful engagement with public policy is challenging work. On this episode of the podcast, we sit down with three people dedicated to amplifying the voices of youth and young adults to advance mental health policy work in Texas. Our guests Río Gonzalez, Aurora Harris, and Raquel Murphy are part of Young Invincibles, a national organization with a Texas branch that is one of the Hogg Foundation’s newest grantees of its Policy Academy and Fellows Program, which aims to increase individuals’ and organizations’ capacity to advance mental health policy in Texas while also increasing the consumer voice in policy development and implementation.

The month of May happens to be both Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, and Mental Health Month. The current period has been one of tragedy, hope and ongoing tension for Asians in the U.S. Since the COVID-19 pandemic broke out in early 2020, Asians have been frequently scapegoated as bringers of contagion. More recently, a spate of violent attacks on Asian Americans has heightened their sense of vulnerability and brought issues of trauma to the forefront. For this episode of Into the Fold, we sought out comedienne Ivy Le, a second generation Vietnamese American podcaster, writer, performer and activist, to share her perspective on the status of Asian Americans in the year 2021 with a focus on the lessons this holds for those who care about mental health and building a more just and equitable future. Related links: Episode 101: Asian American Identity in the Time of COVID-19 https://hogg.utexas.edu/podcast-covid-19-and-asian-americans

It’s well established that children with histories of abuse demonstrate higher levels of depression, conduct disorder, PTSD, impaired social functioning and other problems. This is deeply entangled with how we discipline them. On this special episode of Into the Fold, we are teaming up with fellow member of the Texas Podcast Network, Marc Airhart, host of the Point of Discovery podcast from the University of Texas at Austin College of Natural Sciences. Together we talk with child discipline expert Dr. Elizabeth Gershoff, professor in the Department of Human Development and Family Sciences at UT Austin and the director of the Population Research Center, who has been studying the effects of physical discipline on children for two decades and is advocating for an end to the practice.

The term “vaccine hesitancy” is all the rage—but does it adequately explain what is going on in the minds of those who are “hesitant” to get the COVID-19 vaccine? By focusing on the hesitancy of individuals, do we risk losing sight of fundamental problems of access, equity, and trust? This episode features two interviews with experts whose work straddles the lines between medicine, community outreach, and health communications. First, we talk with Dr. Shalonda Horton, Clinical Assistant Professor at the University of Texas at Austin School of Nursing, who is working on the frontlines at mobile vaccine clinics in Austin, followed by a conversation with Chelsea Brass, a communication studies doctoral student and former doctoral fellow for the Center for Health Communication in the Moody College of Communication and Melanie Connolly, a medical illustrator, 3D animator and marketing director for the Austin Healthcare Council, who designed a Vaccine Curiosity Tool to help resolve uncertainty about the COVID-19 vac

It is no longer “news” that the pandemic has devastated the restaurant industry. Here in Austin, dozens of iconic restaurants and venues did not make it through 2020. For the establishments that did survive, workers in the service industry face the daily stress of managing mask and social distancing mandates, dealing with recalcitrant customers, and caring for one’s workforce. Our guest on this episode is Nicole Cruz, a Case Manager at Southern Smoke, an organization that provides help and support to food and beverage industry workers. Nicole joins us to talk about what this unique industry is experiencing and the impact of the last year of the pandemic. Related links: Episode 69: Mental Health and the Musician's Life http://hogg.utexas.edu/podcast-musician-mental-health

On February 14, 2021 the Hogg Foundation and the world lost a champion of mental health, Stephany J. Bryan. Stephany passed away due to complications related to COVID-19, and we at the foundation are deeply feeling this loss. Our dear friend and colleague had a spirit that was larger than life, full of passion, drive, and an unforgettable sense of humor. On this episode of the podcast, we are joined by two members of the Hogg Foundation, Vicky Coffee, Director of Programs, and Tammy Heinz, Senior Program Officer and Consumer & Family Liaison, as well as Luanne Southern, Executive Director of the Texas Child Mental Health Care Consortium – three of Stephany’s longtime friends and colleagues – to celebrate the life and legacy of the one and only Stephany J. Bryan. Related links: My Journey of Recovery: Stephany J. Bryan https://hogg.utexas.edu/my-journey-of-recovery-stephany-bryan Episode 77: Consumer Voice: Its Role in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion https://hogg.utexas.edu/podcast-consumer-voice Hogg

In recognition of Women’s History Month, we are reaching into our archives to share a conversation between two history makers: Bert Kruger Smith and Maggie Kuhn. In this 1979 episode of The Human Condition, a radio series produced by the Hogg Foundation that ran from 1971 to 1983 on KUT, the show’s host Bert Kruger Smith interviews Maggie Kuhn, an American activist who founded the Gray Panthers movement in 1970. Their conversation puts at center stage the agency and creativity of older people, and addresses the challenges of organizing and mobilizing a specific community for the sake of doing effective advocacy — challenges that still ring true over forty years later.   Related links: Episode 33: Nightmare at Noon: The UT Tower Shooting https://hogg.utexas.edu/nightmare-at-noon-the-ut-tower-shooting Episode 54: Raising the Voices of Individuals with IDD https://hogg.utexas.edu/podcast-self-advocacy-idd Episode 76: From the Archives: Dr. Kenneth Clark on Racism and Child Well-Being https://hogg.utexas.edu

Last September, the Hogg Foundation issued a unique statement: a Declaration of Racism as a Mental Health Crisis. Its purpose is to call attention to the link between racial justice and mental health, and to argue that racism undermines our collective health and well-being. More than 200 organizations, including non-profits, cities, and public health associations, have co-signed this document. This episode of Into the Fold features a discussion with our three guests, each an esteemed figure in the world of public health: Josè Ramón Fernández-Peña, President at the American Public Health Association (APHA), Dr. J. Nadine Gracia, executive vice president at Trust for America’s Health (TFA), and our own Dr. Octavio N. Martinez, Jr., executive director of the Hogg Foundation. Together we talk about the Declaration, and how a broad effort to take its goals to heart can shape all of our futures for the better. Related links Hogg Foundation Declaration of Racism as a Mental Health Crisis https://hogg.utexas.edu/wh

For twenty-five years, Girls Empowerment Network has been helping young women across Texas discover that they are unstoppable. They have done so by laser-focusing their curriculum on one critical component: building self-efficacy, which is a girl’s belief in her ability to succeed. On this episode of the Into the Fold, we are joined by Vanessa Beltran, newly hired Mental Health Policy Fellow for Girls Empowerment Network, and her policy mentor Dr. Sarah Miller-Fellows, Director of Impact, to discuss the unique challenges facing girls and how self-efficacy helps young leaders advocate for themselves and their communities. Related links: Episode 54: Raising the Voices of Individuals with IDD Raising the Voices of Individuals with IDD https://hogg.utexas.edu/podcast-self-advocacy-idd Episode 75: Substance Use: A Public Health Approach https://hogg.utexas.edu/podcast-substance-use-policy Episode 78: Mental Health and Housing: The Need for Alternatives https://hogg.utexas.edu/podcast-mental-health-housing-alt

As we enter 2021, most of us are beyond exhausted. In many ways, these awful circumstances of the last year serve as a reminder of just what a moral pivot point the Black American experience has been and continues to be. To put it simply, everything that is going on isn’t just about the Black American experience, but, in many ways, it is not fully comprehensible without the Black American experience. We are joined on this episode by Dr. Chase Anderson, fellow in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at the University of California San Francisco, to discuss the limits of how helpful our professional identities can be while experiencing racial grief at this time. Related links: Episode 65: The Past Does Matter: Post-Traumatic Slave Syndrome https://hogg.utexas.edu/podcast-the-past-does-matter

Nearly one million Texans do not have physical access to broadband at home. Over eighty-nine percent of these disconnected Texans live in rural areas. Broadly, this is a matter of equity and economic participation, both of which bear on overall well-being in our state. This is especially true during this pandemic, where remote work, school, and health have become the norm. Jennifer Harris serves as the state program director for Connected Nation Texas. She also serves on the Governors Broadband Development Council. Wynn Rosser is CEO of the Temple Foundation, which is dedicated to increasing prosperity and well-being for rural deep East Texas. Both join us on this episode to discuss rural broadband and its pivotal role in the future well-being of Texas. Related links: Into the Fold Episode 64: Understanding Rural Communities https://hogg.utexas.edu/podcast-mental-health-rural-communities Hogg Foundation Awards $4.5 Million to Address Well-being in Rural Texas Communities https://hogg.utexas.edu/texas-rural

There is currently a strong push in Texas toward diverting people with mental health conditions away from the criminal justice system and into treatment. This is the good news. The bad news is that the demand for flexible, evidence-based, person-centered mental health treatment far outpaces the supply. The state's forensic system is a case in point. In this episode Limestone County Sheriff Dennis Wilson and Kevin Garrett of Texas Jail Project share their complementary perspectives on the issue--one a lawman, the other a person with lived experience of the system. Related links: Hogg Policy Fellows https://hogg.utexas.edu/what-we-do/policy-engagement/policy-fellows-academy Episode 28: Jail and Mental Health https://hogg.utexas.edu/episode-28-jail-and-mental-health Episode 23: Talking about Forensic Mental Health https://soundcloud.com/hoggfoundation/into-the-fold-episode-23-talking-about-forensic-mental-health

To say that the media has a public trust problem, earned or not, is an understatement. How should we evaluate the media’s coverage of the pandemic, and how can we all become more savvy media consumers? Joining us to help make sense of these questions is Dr. Timothy Caulfield, Professor of Law at University of Alberta, Canada, Research Director of the Health Law Institute and current Canada Research Chair in Health Law and Policy. He is the author of the national bestseller The Cure for Everything: Untangling the Twisted Messages about Health, Fitness and Happiness (Penguin 2012) and Relax, Dammit!: A User's Guide to the Age of Anxiety (Penguin Random House, 2020). Related links: Episode 40: Mental Health and Media: Stop Raising Awareness Already https://hogg.utexas.edu/mental-health-and-media

Schools have become a flashpoint in the larger debate about how we balance living our lives and keeping ourselves safe during the time of COVID-19. Schools serve as crucial bridge between families, young people, and essential services and community resources. They are also increasingly sites of mental health care. In this episode of Into the Fold we hear from Tasha Moore, Chief Strategy Officer of Communities in Schools of North Texas, which specializes in dropout prevention, and Suki Steinhauser, CEO of Communities in Schools of Central Texas, who share some wisdom about keeping kids in school at a time when ‘school’ no longer means what it used to. f0jbDLFny7qpjH6RIWox Related links: Episode 22: Restorative Discipline in Schools https://hogg.utexas.edu/into-the-fold-episode-22-restorative-discipline-in-schools Episode 42: Mental Health in Schools https://hogg.utexas.edu/podcast-mental-health-schools Improving Academic Achievement through Mental Health https://hogg.utexas.edu/initiatives/academic-achi

Substance misuse has long been a pain point on college campuses, and the University of Texas at Austin is no different. This week we talked with an organization that is pushing back against the engrained belief that substance misuse is a “rite of passage” for college students, and instead is offering a holistic model for shifting the conversation around substance use on campus. Kate Lower, Director of SHIFT, joins us to discuss the impact the COVID-19 pandemic is having on patterns of substance use among college students during this time of increased environmental changes and isolation. Related links: 3 Things to Know: Recovery https://hogg.utexas.edu/3-things-to-know-recovery In Their Words: On Recovery https://hogg.utexas.edu/in-their-words-on-recovery Episode 51: The Social Entrepreneurship Model https://hogg.utexas.edu/podcast-recovery-social-entrepreneurship

This week we are joined by Dr. Eric Tang, Associate Professor of African and African Diaspora Studies and Director of the Center for Asian American Studies at The University of Texas at Austin. We discuss COVID-19 and Asian Americans, especially now that the pandemic has brought to the forefront many of our nation’s deep xenophobic biases that harm Asian people of color in the United States, including here on the University of Texas at Austin campus. Related links: Episode 100: Black Lives Matter https://hogg.utexas.edu/podcast-black-lives-matter Episode 13: Deportation Threat and the Children of the Undocumented https://soundcloud.com/hoggfoundation/into-the-fold-episode-13 Episode 45: Deportation Anxiety for Today’s Young Adults http://hogg.utexas.edu/deportation-anxiety-young-adults-podcast Episode 85: Refugee Resilience and Well-being: A Voice from the Field https://hogg.utexas.edu/podcast-refugee-resilience-and-well-being Episode 57: Supporting Our Dreamers https://hogg.utexas.edu/podcast-suppo

In this milestone 100th episode of Into the Fold, we dive into the topic of racism and historical trauma with a panel of experts. We are joined by three former podcast guests: Dr. Christen Smith, an associate professor of African and Diaspora Studies and Anthropology at The University of Texas at Austin; Dr. Ryan Sutton, director of the Heman Sweatt Center for Black Males at The University of Texas at Austin; and Latasha Taylor, a mental health organizer and former Hogg Foundation Policy Fellow. Together, we discuss the impact of police brutality on African American mental health and ways non-Black allies can best support their friends and the Black Lives Matter movement. Deborah "D.E.E.P." Mouton poetry: https://www.livelifedeep.com/ Oddisee: https://www.mellomusicgroup.com/collections/oddisee-collection Related links: Episode 65: The Past Does Matter: Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome https://hogg.utexas.edu/podcast-the-past-does-matter Episode 56: Police Violence and Black Women’s Health https://hogg.utex

With COVID-19 putting unprecedented stress on our already overburdened systems of support for older people, the need to provide for the mental and physical health of this population has reached a critical level. On this episode of the podcast, we are joined for the second time by licensed clinical social worker Carly Bassett, who specializes in mental health care for older adults. Related links: Understanding Mental Health in Older Adults https://hogg.utexas.edu/podcast-elderly-mental-heath How Transportation Affects the Mental Health of Nursing Home Residents https://hogg.utexas.edu/vivian-miller-nursing-home-health The Health Cost of Aging in America https://hogg.utexas.edu/the-health-cost-of-aging-in-america