NAMI Mental Health Services in CA
Engage Magazine Winter 2022

Expanding Mental Health Services in California

By David Bain, Executive Director, National Alliance for Mental Illness (NAMI) Sacramento Throughout the country, Peer Support Specialists are providing mental health services to individuals impacted by brain health issues. Peer Support Specialists are people with “lived experience” with mental illness – either living with it or a as a family member of someone living Read More…

An Invitation to Grieve
Engage Magazine Winter 2022

An Invitation to Grieve

By Tracy Carson, Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor, Tracy Carson Therapy This past Thanksgiving my entire family gathered in Florida to celebrate together after a long pandemic-induced separation. As my father sat with my four boys, his only grandchildren, he remarked that they were having the inaugural meeting of the “Florida Boys Club!” It was such Read More…

Keiro and Little Tokyo Service Center
Engage Magazine Winter 2022

Keiro Partnership Provides Mental Health Support During Pandemic

By Brandon Masashige Leong, Director of Development & Communications, Keiro The COVID-19 pandemic has brought significant changes to our daily lives. This new normal, with various lockdowns and restrictions, has also increased the psychological burdens of so many individuals. However, the struggles people are facing have ultimately increased awareness of the importance of good mental Read More…

older adults and mental health
Engage Magazine Winter 2022

Advancing mental health and wellness among older adults during COVID-19: Current challenges and emergent opportunities

By Kathryn G. Kietzman, PhD, MSW and Imelda Padilla-Frausto, PhD, MPHUCLA Center for Health Policy Research; UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, Department of Community Health Sciences In 2012, the Institute of Medicine issued a report that documented the mental health needs of a rapidly growing aging population, and highlighted concerns about the preparedness and Read More…

Java - Peer Support for Older Adults
Engage Magazine Winter 2022

Java Group Programs: Fighting Loneliness and Isolation through Peer Support

Java Group Programs were created by Dr. Kristine Theurer. We sat down with Kristine to talk about the different components of the program and a new partnership with LeadingAge California kicking off in Spring of 2022. What is Java all about? Prolonged loneliness and social isolation are a silent tragedy in nursing homes. One resident Read More…

Already Toast
Engage Magazine Winter 2022

A Conversation with Kate Washington, author of Already Toast

Kate Washington is a Northern California writer whose book Already Toast chronicles her experiences caring for her husband Brad, seriously ill with a rare cancer. We sat down with Washington to talk about the gender politics at work in her story and hear her perspective on how to ease the struggles of unpaid family caregivers. Read More…