SMILES

Team SMILES is focused on expanding work from Team BRIDGE (NRT 2022-2023 cohort) on addressing inequities and improving mental health access for minoritized underserved communities. We aim to further develop relationships with our community partner, the City of Alexandria’s Community Health Assessment and Improvement Plan (CHIP), to better serve the diverse communities in Alexandria. SMILES will pursue this goal to improve mental health access by conducting community needs assessments through focus groups and surveys in groups with unique language access needs; Arabic, Amharic, and Spanish-speaking communities. Ultimately, we will present this information back to the community through both evidence-based academic products and more importantly, community-accessible resources and presentations to inform local mental health access policy. .