Camarillo, Calif., Nov. 3, 2015 -- Depression, anxiety, suicide, substance abuse and many other mental illnesses may go undiagnosed and untreated because sufferers worry how others will react.
After offering a free health fair in Oxnard in the spring, CSU Channel Islands (CI) Nursing students decided it was also important to offer a fair aimed at mental health issues, especially when it comes to the stigma that still surrounds anything having to do with mental illness.
The St. Paul Family Life Center Mental Health Fair will be held Saturday, Nov. 7 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the B. A. Huggins Outreach and Worship Center annex at 840 South G Street in Oxnard. The annex is also home to the nursing students’ free mobile health clinic and many low-income families receive free meals at the annex.
“Most of the people who are served at the annex are ethnic minority,” said Professor of Nursing LaSonya Davis-Smith, DNP. “Research shows mental health issues are highly stigmatized in these ethnic minority communities so it goes underdiagnosed and undertreated.”
CI Nursing students are putting together the fair in partnership with the St. Paul Family Life C.O.P.I.N.G. (Community Outreach Providing Information for Networking and Growth). “The event is aiming to target the underserved Latino and African American population, but is free and open to Ventura County,” said CI Student Nurse and Mental Health Fair Student Coordinator Iran Rahbar.
The event will include speakers, information booths, snacks and beverages as well as an art therapy project for children. Spanish translators will be available.
“We wanted to find a way to engage children of all ages and have something that would be a permanent display at the annex,” Davis-Smith said. “So we’re going to have children do handprints in a pattern on the wall. They’ll be able to see their name and their age. That way kids and adults can see art is one more way to get rid of stress, to clear your mind, just like dancing or music.”
Just as the health fair has become an annual event in the spring, Davis-Smith and the nursing students hope the mental health fair becomes an annual event in the fall.
For more information: http://www.spbcoxnard.org.
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CSU Channel Islands(CI) is the only four-year, public university in Ventura County and is known for its interdisciplinary, multicultural and international perspectives, and its emphasis on experiential and service learning. CI’s strong academic programs focus on business, sciences, liberal studies, teaching credentials, and innovative master’s degrees. Students benefit from individual attention, up-to-date technology, and classroom instruction augmented by outstanding faculty research. CI has been designated by the U.S. Department of Education as a Hispanic-Serving Institution and is committed to serving students of all backgrounds from the region and beyond. Connect with and learn more by visiting CI's Social Media.