Cross-Cutting Issues in Mental Health & Wellness Equity

Session Type: Invited Speaker Session

Abstract

Mental health and wellness are important in supporting the holistic well-being of children, communities, teachers, and educational stakeholders. Currently, we are in the midst of what some have called a mental health crisis in education, cutting across k-12 and higher education, whereby young people and educators are facing a scale of stressors and mental health challenges that we are only beginning to understand. These issues of mental health and wellness are also racialized, with escalating needs among young people and teachers of color, cultural stigmas against seeking mental health support, and systems that fail to provide access to care. This session reflects on these pervasive and acute issues, taking as central how mental health and wellness challenges are exacerbated by other forms of structural inequities, and explores the possibility for better holistic mental wellness among youth, communities, families, educators, and within higher education.

Sub Unit

• AERA Presidential Session

Chair

• Travis J. Bristol, University of California - Berkeley

Panelists

• Seanna C. Leath, Washington University in St. Louis

• Allyson Tintiangco-Cubales, San Francisco State University

• Amanda R. Tachine, Arizona State University