Each July, National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month reminds us that mental health is deeply connected to culture, identity, community, language, family, and lived experience. Also known as Bebe Moore Campbell National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month, this observance was formally recognized in 2008 to improve access to mental health treatment and increase awareness of mental illness among underserved communities. Today, it continues to honor the legacy of Bebe Moore Campbell by encouraging more inclusive, honest, and culturally respectful conversations about mental health.
Mental health is not one-size-fits-all. The way people understand stress, grief, trauma, healing, support, and wellness is often shaped by cultural values, family traditions, faith, community expectations, language, health literacy, and personal history. For some individuals, talking openly about mental health may feel natural. For others, it may feel unfamiliar, private, stigmatized, or unsafe because of past experiences, cultural expectations, or barriers within systems of care.
This month is an opportunity to do more than raise awareness. It’s a time to celebrate the richness of diverse cultures, honor the strength within communities, and recognize that meaningful mental health support must be rooted in respect, trust, understanding, and belonging.
Culture Is Part of Care
Culture influences how people express distress, seek support, and define healing. Some individuals may describe anxiety or depression through physical symptoms. Others may first turn to family, elders, faith leaders, traditional healing practices, or trusted community members before seeking clinical care.
Culturally responsive care begins with listening. It asks organizations and providers to slow down, avoid assumptions, and recognize that each person brings a full story with them. For organizations, this means mental health support should not require someone to leave their identity, language, traditions, or lived experience at the door. True care welcomes the whole person.
Understanding Cultural Customs and Comfort in Care
Culturally responsive mental health support also requires organizations to understand that people may not always feel comfortable with every practitioner, setting, or approach to care. This discomfort is not always about resistance to support. It may be shaped by cultural customs, religious beliefs, gender norms, language barriers, past experiences, family expectations, historical mistrust, or concerns about being misunderstood.
For example, some individuals may feel more comfortable speaking with a provider who shares their language, cultural background, gender identity, faith understanding, or lived experience. Others may prefer to involve family members, community elders, faith leaders, or trusted advocates in conversations about care. Some cultures may place strong value on privacy, modesty, collective decision-making, or respect for authority, which can influence how openly someone shares personal information with a practitioner.
Organizations should avoid assuming that one care model will feel safe or appropriate for everyone. Instead, staff can create more trust by asking respectful questions such as, “Is there anything that would help you feel more comfortable during this conversation?” or “Are there any cultural, spiritual, language, or personal preferences you would like us to be aware of?” These questions communicate respect and give individuals more voice in their care.
Whenever possible, organizations should offer choice. This may include access to interpreters, culturally informed providers, peer support, gender-sensitive options, private meeting spaces, or referrals to community-based resources that feel familiar and trusted. Even when every preference cannot be met immediately, the act of listening, acknowledging, and trying to accommodate can make a meaningful difference.
Understanding cultural customs is not about making assumptions about an entire group of people. It’s about recognizing that each person’s comfort, trust, and healing process may be influenced by the culture and experiences they carry with them. When organizations honor those preferences, they create care environments where people are more likely to feel respected, safe, and truly seen.
Health Literacy Is Mental Health Access
Supporting minority mental health also means paying close attention to health literacy. Health literacy is not only about whether someone can read a pamphlet or understand medical words. It’s about how easily people can find, understand, trust, and use information to make decisions about their health and well-being.
When mental health information is full of clinical terms, complicated forms, long explanations, or unclear referral steps, people may feel overwhelmed or discouraged. This can be especially difficult for individuals who are navigating language barriers, unfamiliar healthcare systems, trauma, stress, disability, limited access to technology, or fear of being judged.
Organizations can support health literacy by making mental health information clear, respectful, and easy to act on. This includes using plain language, explaining unfamiliar terms, breaking information into small steps, and checking for understanding without making anyone feel embarrassed.
For example, instead of saying, “You may benefit from behavioral health intervention,” staff might say, “Talking with a mental health professional may help you sort through what you are feeling and identify support that feels right for you.” Instead of simply handing someone a phone number, staff can explain who they are calling, what may happen next, what information they may need, and whether there are language, transportation, cost, or scheduling considerations.
Health literacy also requires cultural humility. A person may understand the words being used but still feel unsure about whether the resource is safe, respectful, affordable, confidential, or aligned with their values. Clear communication should answer not only “What is this service?” but also “What can I expect?” “Will I be respected?” “Is this confidential?” and “How do I take the next step?”
Celebrating Diversity as a Strength
National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month is also a time to celebrate cultural difference as a strength. Diversity brings richness to workplaces, healthcare systems, community organizations, schools, and neighborhoods. It gives us more ways to understand resilience, healing, connection, and care.
Every culture carries wisdom. Some communities emphasize collective care. Some value storytelling, spirituality, music, movement, food, family, or intergenerational connection as part of healing. Others hold strong traditions around privacy, dignity, perseverance, and community responsibility. When organizations take time to honor these differences, they create spaces where people feel more seen, respected, and understood.
Celebrating diversity should go beyond a statement on a calendar. It should show up in how we communicate, how we train staff, how we design programs, how we build partnerships, and how we listen to the people we serve.
Practical Ways Organizations Can Support Minority Mental Health
Organizations play an important role in shaping whether people feel safe asking for help. Small, intentional actions can make mental health support more accessible and culturally respectful.
One practical step is to review the language used in mental health communications. Avoid overly clinical or stigmatizing language when possible. Use clear, compassionate wording that normalizes support and reminds people that mental health is part of overall well-being.
Organizations can also provide resources in multiple languages and accessible formats. This may include translated materials, plain-language handouts, captioned videos, interpreter support, culturally relevant resource guides, large-print materials, screen-reader friendly documents, and clear instructions for how to access services. Language access and health literacy are not just communication issues. They are equity issues.
Another helpful step is to partner with trusted community organizations. People are often more likely to seek support when information comes from sources they already know and trust. Partnerships with faith communities, cultural organizations, local nonprofits, peer groups, schools, and community health workers can help bridge gaps and reduce stigma.
Staff training is also essential. Organizations should consider training teams on cultural humility, trauma-informed care, implicit bias, de-escalation, inclusive communication, and health literacy practices. The goal is not to make staff experts in every culture. The goal is to build curiosity, respect, self-awareness, and the ability to communicate in ways people can understand and use.
Organizations can also create more inclusive workplace wellness practices. This may include normalizing mental health days, promoting Employee Assistance Programs, offering flexible supports when possible, encouraging psychological safety, and creating spaces where employees do not feel pressured to hide parts of themselves to be accepted.
Practical Health Literacy Tips for Organizations
Health literacy practices can be simple and powerful. Organizations can start by reviewing their materials, conversations, referral processes, and digital resources through the eyes of the person trying to access support.
Use plain language. Replace technical terms with words people use in everyday life.
Keep information short and focused. Too much information at once can feel overwhelming.
Explain what happens next. People are more likely to follow through when they understand the next step.
Use teach-back. Ask, “Just so I know I explained that clearly, can you tell me what your next step will be?” This checks the clarity of the explanation, not the intelligence of the person receiving it.
Avoid shame. Never assume someone understands a form, diagnosis, service, or referral process just because it was explained once.
Make resources easy to find. Website links, phone numbers, hours, costs, eligibility, and language options should be clear.
Offer multiple formats. Use verbal explanation, written instructions, visuals, translated materials, and accessible digital options when possible.
Check for cultural relevance. Ask whether the resource feels respectful, safe, and appropriate for the person or community being served.
Questions Organizations Can Ask Themselves
A meaningful commitment to minority mental health begins with reflection. Organizations can ask:
Are our mental health resources easy to understand and access?
Do our materials reflect the languages and cultures of the people we serve?
Are our forms, flyers, websites, and referral instructions written in plain language?
Do people know what to expect when they call, schedule, or attend an appointment?
Are we partnering with trusted voices in the community?
Do staff feel prepared to respond with cultural humility and clear communication?
Are we making assumptions about what support should look like?
Are employees and community members invited to share what would feel helpful to them?
Are we celebrating diversity only during awareness months, or are we embedding inclusion into everyday practice?
These questions can help organizations move from awareness to action.
Helpful Resources
For organizations and individuals looking to continue learning, several free resources can support this work. Mental Health America’s BIPOC Mental Health Month page offers toolkits and resources focused on the strengths and challenges that Black, Indigenous, and people of color face related to mental health.
Care Compass’ Health Literacy Strategies and Tools for Effective Communication provides strategies and tips for written and verbal communication
NAMI’s Bebe Moore Campbell National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month page provides information, events, and community-centered resources connected to the observance.
The CDC’s Prioritizing Minority Mental Health resource highlights the importance of culturally and linguistically appropriate mental health care.
The CDC’s Health Literacy resources provide guidance on using clear communication to help people find, understand, and use health information.
SAMHSA’s FindTreatment.gov is a confidential and anonymous resource for people seeking mental health or substance use treatment in the United States and its territories.
SAMHSA’s National Helpline is a free, confidential, 24/7 treatment referral and information service available in English and Spanish for individuals and families facing mental health or substance use concerns.
Final Thought
National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month is more than a moment of recognition. It is a reminder that mental health care must be inclusive, accessible, understandable, and grounded in respect for the many cultures and identities that shape our communities.
When organizations celebrate diversity, they strengthen belonging. When they listen with humility, they build trust. When they make resources easier to understand and access, they reduce barriers. When they honor culture as part of care, they create space for people to show up as their full selves.
Mental health support should never ask someone to separate who they are from the care they receive. True care sees the whole person, honors their story, communicates clearly, and makes room for healing in every community.