Efforts to reach Asian students with culturally appropriate mental health services are paying off.

 

In many ways, Asian students at Cornell University seem like a successful group. At the competitive Ivy League school, they make up about 17 percent of the student body — by far the school’s largest minority.

But the stereotype of Asians as brainy, quiet “model minorities” helps hide serious problems. Of the 14 suicides between 1997 and 2007, eight were students of Asian descent. In anonymous health surveys, Asians were more likely than White students to say they had difficulties with stress, sleep and feelings of hopelessness — and yet they were less likely to seek counseling.

White students may wrestle with the same problems, but tend to get help or be helped sooner, says Dr. Wai-Kwong Wong, a counselor at Cornell’s Gannett Health Services.

“To a large extent, it’s not just a mental health issue; it’s a community issue,” Wong says. “A lot of the issues that students were presented with have to do with their environment and their sense of community or lack thereof.”

Cornell officials were jolted into action after a university-sponsored report in 2004 detailed the sense of isolation and dissatisfaction among Asian American and international Asian students. Four of the 25 counselors or therapists at the student health center are now of Asian descent, compared to just one previously. Counselors have expanded outreach efforts to include walk-in hours at various campus sites rather than simply waiting for students to make appointments. And this fall, the university plans to hire an assistant dean of students who will focus on working with Asian students.

Breaking Through Cultural Barriers

Cornell has been unique in publicizing statistics such as the number of suicides, but other universities have also recognized the need to diversify their counseling staff and expand outreach efforts. Last year, the University of California-Davis launched the Asian American Center on Disparities Research, which focuses on mental health issues. The center, funded by a $3.9 million grant from the National Institute of Mental Health, coordinates research from 18 universities.