COVID-19 and Asian American College Students

We have seen that the way we respond to public health emergencies must include culturally specific interventions, but we often neglect how we pay attention to the public safety of vulnerable individuals. For example, once HIV became widely known, there was an exponential increase in the number of hate crimes against the LGBTQ community, as people became more vocal in their pleas for support and understanding. 

Similarly, the covid pandemic and the stigma surrounding it have occurred alongside increased hate crimes against Asian Americans and a mental health crisis unresolved. In this piece, ASU’s Drs. Angela Chen, Wei Li, and colleagues provide us with clues as to how we should care for AA and NHPI college students’ mental well-being in the face of public health crises, like covid. 

COVID-19 and Asian American college students: Discrimination, fear, and mental health

By Angela Chia-Chen Chen, PhD, RN, PMHNP-BC, SeungYong Han, PhD, Wei Li, PhD, Karen J. Leong, PhD, Lihong Ou, MSN, RN