(NAME-MCE) Public Awareness Campaign to Prevent Suicide Among Elderly Asian Woman

[Bill Howe]

 MEDIA ADVISORY

News from Hamilton Madison House, Asian American Federation, NY Coalition
for Asian American Mental Health

For more information contact: Peter Yee (212) 720-4522 peter at hmhonline.org;
Sonja Choi (212) 344-5878 ext. 23 Sonja.choi at aafederation.org
Public Awareness Campaign to Prevent Suicide Among Elderly Asian Woman to
Launch September 24, 2009

**

ALBANY, NY (09/22/2009)(readMedia)-- Hamilton-Madison House, The Asian
American Federation, and The New York Coalition for Asian American Mental
Health will hold an Elderly Asian Women Suicide Prevention Public Awareness
Campaign Press Conference on Thursday, September 24th from 2:00 - 3:00 pm at
the Korean American Senior Center of Flushing located 42-15 166th, Flushing,
New York 11358.

NYS Assemblyman Peter M. Rivera and Dr. Lloyd Sederer, Medical Director of
the NYS Office of Mental Health as well as Dr. Tsunetaka Yoshida from the
Consulate-General of Japan, will be in attendance to support this public
awareness and education event.

This suicide prevention campaign is an important initiative for the Asian
Community. Suicide is the 8th leading cause of death for Asian Americans and
Pacific Islanders (AAPI), compared to 11th leading cause of death for the
general population in the United States. Elderly Asian American/Pacific
Islander women have higher rates of suicide than older Caucasian and African
American women. The rate of suicide increases to 7.95 per 100,000 for Asian
women who are 75 years of age and older, compared to 4.18 for white and 1.18
for black women of the same age group (Centers of Disease Control and
Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control (
http://www.cdc.gov/injury/wisqars/index.html)).

A comprehensive campaign to raise public awareness on this very serious
mental health issue has been funded through grants from the NYS Office of
Mental Health. This campaign, an initiative made possible with the help of
Assemblyman Peter Rivera, will target elderly Asian women directly and
through links with their families, community and primary care systems. The
content of the campaign will be culturally and linguistically relevant to
various targeted Asian subgroups, and disseminated through preferred local
media and community stakeholders.

This press conference will be an important component in spotlighting the
problem of high suicide rate among elderly Asian women and to disseminate a
strong message that "it's time to gather together to honor and care for the
elderly Asian women in our community."
  WHO:

Hamilton Madison House, Asian American Federation, New York Coalition for
Asian American Mental Health
 *WHAT:*

Public Awareness Campaign to Prevent Suicide Among Elderly Asian Women to
Launch September 24th
 *WHEN:* Thursday September 24, 2009 at 02:00PM Eastern Time (US & Canada) *
WHERE:* Korean American Senior Center of Flushing
42-15 166th Street
Flushing, New York 11358








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