A Native American Clinic Gives Doses of Cultural Healing During COVID-19

Aware that already-high rates of mental health problems and suicide in native American populations could grow even worse during COVID-19 isolation, a number of support groups rolled out online sessions that have attracted thousands of attendees seeking connections and comfort. The Native Wellness Institute's daily Power Hour on Facebook Live and the Healing Indigenous Lives Initiative's online meetings offer storytelling, wellness training, peer support, and other lessons in self-care.

A community health care clinic in Oregon’s Wallowa County has been able to offer mental health services to its clients during the coronavirus pandemic thanks in part to an already-established virtual practice. In place to better serve the rural community, the clinic's telehealth option has gained even more popularity since social distancing became a necessity. Although the practice isn't without its limitations, such as access to internet, overall, the expanded access has helped reduce the impacts of isolation.

The Los Angeles Unified school district has shifted how it’s helping to support students’ mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic. By opening up a mental health hotline, they are able to connect students and their families with members of the Crisis Counseling and Intervention Services Unit to help provide emotional guidance and support. Since opening, they’ve already served over 3,500 individuals and are working to develop plans for long-term support.

The Special Olympics turned 50 in 2020, but the pandemic has put a damper on their original birthday plans. People with intellectual and physical differences who participate rely on the games for social connection, so many are suffering from the social quarantine. To make up for it, the Special Olympics has moved online—creating an online fitness video series with the WWE. The program, called School of Strength, features exercises and even downloadable interactive toolkits for coaches and caregivers. After initial hurdles, they are now going live twice a week and posting new content daily.

Roots to Thrive offers psychedelic-assisted therapy and through the Naut sa mawt Centre for Psychedelic Research the group works with universities across the country to advance the field of psychedelic-assisted therapy. Roots to Thrive specifically works to decolonize psychedelic-assisted therapy by forming relationships with Indigenous communities to learn from them. Psychedelic-assisted therapy has been shown to offer several benefits like treating symptoms of depression, anxiety and PTSD and allowing people to look inward to address past traumas.

At the University of Minnesota Medical School's Duluth Campus, the Center of American Indian and Minority Health provides a space for Indigenous students to connect with one another, honor their traditions, and find support in a challenging academic setting. The school, which also requires eight hours of instruction on treating Native Americans, has produced more Indigenous medical graduates than almost any other in the United States.

Tohono O’odham Community College in Arizona shifted its courses online during the pandemic and offered them for free to any Native student, expanding the tribal college's reach beyond the Tohono O’odham Nation for the first time. The college saw its enrollment jump by 96 percent — the largest increase of any tribal college in 2020 — and now serves students representing 55 tribal nations.

The Penobscot Nation's Healing to Wellness Court is a drug court, diverting people charged with drug offenses from possible fines and jail into therapy. But it has an added cultural element, providing traditional healing approaches alongside mainstream behavioral therapy. The cultural piece recognizes that Native Americans' historical trauma and disconnect from their culture can contribute to the problems that lead to addiction. The court is far less expensive than jail or prison, and its participants have not been jailed for failing treatment in more than two years.

What started as a small group of young adults wanting to help their aging parents navigate telehealth during the coronavirus pandemic, is now a multi-state program that provides devices to seniors and low-income people as a way to close the digital divide. The group has grown to over 300 volunteers and partners with local health care providers, who in turn help their patients set up their new devices provided by the organization.

The Montrose Center in Texas, which provides LGBTQ support services, has turned to the use of technology to keep resources available during the coronavirus pandemic. Virtual support groups have been one of their most successful innovations, with providers reporting that attendance at times has been higher than for in-person sessions.