National Native HIV/AIDS Awareness Day (NNHAAD) is a national mobilization effort designed to encourage Natives (American Indians, Alaska Natives and Native Hawaiians) across the United States and Territorial Areas to get educated, get tested, get involved in prevention and get treated for HIV and AIDS. HIV awareness and consistent, widespread access to stigma-free HIV testing is […]
Special Populations
Equal Treatment Bench Book Updated to Increase Awareness and Understanding of Peoples’ Different Circumstances
The Equal Treatment Bench Book has been updated, expanded and improved. It aims to increase awareness and understanding of the different circumstances of people appearing in courts and tribunals. It helps enable effective communication and suggests steps which should increase participation by all parties. This latest edition of the Equal Treatment Bench Book cites recent […]
Community-Based Health Literacy Interventions
In its landmark report, Health Literacy: A Prescription to End Confusion, the Institute of Medicine noted that there are 90 million adults in the United States with limited health literacy who cannot fully benefit from what the health and health care systems have to offer. Since the release of that report, health literacy has become […]
Collaboration of Criminal Justice and Behavioral Health: Advancing New and Proven Models
While important strides have been made to prevent people with behavioral health disorders from entering the criminal justice system, the number continues to be excessive and, too often, unnecessary. The State of Maryland is among many jurisdictions struggling to find and implement alternatives to incarceration. The State struggles to reduce recidivism, too, by providing support […]
Pathways to Health Equity in Communities
In the United States, some populations suffer from far greater disparities in health than others. Those disparities are caused not only by fundamental differences in health status across segments of the population, but also because of inequities in factors that impact health status, so-called determinants of health. Only part of an individual’s health status depends […]
First Responders Helping Others with Mental Health and Reminders to Care for Themselves
Creating Safe Scenes training course from SAMHSA is designed to help police, fire, and emergency medical services personnel respond to calls involving someone experiencing a mental health and/or substance use crisis. Creating Safe Scenes presents information about mental illnesses, substance use disorders, and trauma; offers guidance on de-escalating scenes with an individual in crisis; provides […]