South Asian Community Health Promotion Services

The video above was commissioned by Alameda County to demonstrate to stakeholders and funders the effectiveness of the programs they had funded with Mental Health Servicdes Act funds. The video depicts our South Asian Community Health Promotion Services program and also introduces you to services and themes that run throughout the whole agency.

Program Purpose

Every person goes through facing the life challenges that occur normally, such as the developmental challenges of the birth of a child, child's first day of school, falling in love, marriage, divorce, parenting, work relationships, aging, and retirement etc. Other challenges can be unpredictable, such as accidents and illnesses. These challenges may increase remarkably if you are an immigrant. To help people deal with such challenges successfully, The Hume Center has developed the following programs:

Groups/Workshops

Parents Peer Consultation Group: A highly trained professional facilitates a Parents Peer Consultation Group where parents meet other parents. It provides a great opportunity to develop supportive friendships and to learn to handle their unique situations.Parent-Youth Communication: Being a teenager creates additional challenges. The Facilitator helps develop a deeper understanding of their behavior and create a more collaborative relationship between the youth and the parents that helps the teenager to cope with serious challenges they are facing during this developmental phase of their life.Youth Friendship Groups: In these groups the Facilitator helps the teenagers to develop deeper understanding of the unique challenges they face during this phase of their life and find ways to deal with them successfully.Elders: The Facilitator helps the elder to share their experiences and their unique situations they face in the United States and learn to cope with them successfully.

A Friend in Need Is a Friend Indeed

When life becomes too overwhelming, it can result in changes in how an individual thinks, feels, and acts. The Hume Center offers Early Intervention services for individuals, couples or families in distress. These short-term, culturally sensitive and language-specific services offer therapeutic help aimed at developing knowledge and skills to deal with life successfully.

These services are offered in our clinics but also at community and cultural centers. For an example, you can click on this link to read about our services at India Community Center.

Helping the Helpers Program

Most of the community members have existing relationships with several academic and helping organizations in the community, such as, schools, the clergy at their place of worship, social services, legal aid, social welfare, housing and some specific agencies working with the migrant and refugee populations. Sometimes, the helping person may not understand the psychological significance or cultural component of their client's behavior. We are available to collaborate with helping professionals to develop better understanding so that they can continue to meet the needs of their clients.

Presentations

We also make presentations to any group that is interested in knowing more about promoting psychological and emotional well being, or, if you want to know more about our services or are interested in a particular topic.Please contact us if you want to join any of the groups listed above or if you have any specific need that is not mentioned here.

Staff

This program is staffed by highly trained staff members and trainees. The Hume Center is a recognized internship site and many services are provided by trainees (Practicum students, Doctoral Interns and Post-Doctoral fellows) who are supervised by licensed clinicians.

History of This Program

The Hume Center was established in 1993 and since then we have been offering preventative services and providing support to a diverse community. Starting in 2010, we expanded our impact in the community by developing a comprehensive program specifically to serve the South Asian Community. This program, with major funding provided by Alameda County Behavioral Health Care Services Mental Health Services Act funding, offers community programs and services that are uniquely and best suited for our consumers whether that is an individual, family, community, or organization.

Staff and 2013-2014 Trainees of the South Asian Community Health Promotion Services Program