Jason Li selected as a Donald A. Strauss Public Service Scholar

Join Human Biology in congratulating Jason Li, who was selected as a Donald A. Strauss Public Service Fellow for his project, Vignettes as an Educational Tool to Improve Communication and Wellbeing in Asian-American Families.

In response to the disproportionate representation of Asian-American in suicide clusters in high school students in the Bay Area, this project aims to provide practical tools for Asian-American families to address difficult and often stigmatized topics in mental health through theatrical vignettes and audience engagement. Surveys have shown that Asian-American parents and their children identify stigma against mental health as well as open communication between family members as significant barriers to accessing mental health services. From eating disorders to self-harm, from talking about depression to showing affection for the first time, the vignettes guide audience members by simulating difficult, real-life scenarios that families face—with specific emphasis on the cultural expectations and challenges that arise in Asian-American households. By partnering with educators, psychiatrists, community organizers, and families themselves, this project will expand its reach through other vulnerable areas in the Bay Area and beyond, with the aim of developing educational materials and a curriculum through which schools and organizations throughout the country can host their own vignettes to confront this deep, urgent, and underserved need within the Asian-American community.