Resilience is defined as the ability to conform to adversity, stress, tragedy or trauma. In essence, it is one’s ability to remain strong, stable and still be able to maintain healthy levels of physical functioning and be psychologically sound even in the face of chaos or disruption. On the other hand, wellness as a concept is defined as the overall balance of one’s physical, occupational, spiritual, social, intellectual, and environmental wellbeing. Wellness involves a number of life skills that seek to promote wellbeing and also help prevent the outbreak of disease. This paper takes a look at ways in which we can promote and build wellness and resilience in children and young adults from the African-American community.
Resilience and wellbeing is crucial especially in children and young adults as it helps develop their self-esteem, gives them a positive disposition towards learning, helps them develop independence and perseverance, assist them in coping with setbacks and challenges as well as help them identify the best and appropriate ways to relate to others. As a counselor, understanding the culture of the group (in this case African American) is an important step towards encouraging wellbeing and resilience ( Barbarin, 1993). It is impossible for parents to especially in the African-American community to protect their children from the difficulties and ups and setbacks that come with life. However, despite the everyday challenges faced by this minority group, raising resilient children and young adults is possible and can furnish them with the tools much needed to respond to the challenges that come with adolescence and navigate them successfully to adulthood.
Despite best efforts, preventing daily stress and adversity in young adults is not possible but resilience can be learned from changing the way they think about the adversities and challenges. Barber, 2003 has noted that in the current setup of African-American family setup, children and young adults go through tremendous stress and challenges which have the potential of damaging both their psychological and physical wellbeing. In today’s environment, young adults as well as children need to acquire skills, develop strengths to cope, bounce back from hardships and be prepared for challenges in the future.
Adolescence and childhood serves as a crucial period in the development of humans. It is at this stage identity and sense of self is established (Barber, 2003). For school going children, Provision of physical education classes, group work, provision of opportunities to creatively express oneself, education field trips and use of systems for appreciation and recognition are some of the school-based activities that have proven effective in helping the youth develop self-esteem and life skills. The young adults are have excess energy and so their involvement in sports, physical activities such as dancing, glee clubs and creation of talent clubs have shown to help them keep away from risky behaviors such as gambling, drug and substance abuse as well as other illegal activities. It is also important that parents, the community at large as well as the counselors be involved during these activities in order to create good relationships with the children and the youth that will lead to their wellbeing.
According to Barbarin, 2003 preventing and promoting mental wellness in the youth and children is quite challenging especially in the African-American community. Reports have shown that most mental illnesses in the children and youth of African-American descent begin early, but most of them wait till it’s too late to accept and seek treatment. In order to be effective, promotion of mental wellness should follow a comprehensive approach. Educating the family, youth and the community as a whole is paramount in order to develop skills and create awareness. There should be policies enacted within the community that support mental wellness.
In order to promote wellness and mental health in children and young adults of African-American descent, I propose that the community organize a committee in which parents, health professionals and the youth are involved. Projects that support safe environments ensuring that no bullying or teasing is tolerated should be established. Creating healthy nutrition and eating habits so as prevent obesity and other weight complicated illnesses should be encouraged. Making the neighborhood a conducive environment where all children and youth are valued and accepted for who they are, brainstorming on ways to help create an environment which promotes mental wellness and educating everyone in the community about the signs of mental health and what action to take if such a problem is recognized in one of the people in the target group are crucial prevention activities that encourage wellness. Organizing mental wellness fairs in which parents, youth and health professionals collectively participate in making mental wellness a reality is recommended.
Involving the community in promoting wellness and resilience is important. There are many other community assets that are proximate to help promote mental health and wellness. If used appropriately, these resources will help the community in the African-American setup to identify the children and youth who are struggling with mental problems and help them cope and later overcome problems associated with mental health.
For example, there are mobile counseling centers and home visiting programs whereby counselors and other professionals directly work with families in order to promote mental health awareness provide education about mental health, give families moral support and organize activities and programs that help young people connect with caring adults. These programs and activities within the community have shown greatly to improve general wellbeing and mental health within this specified community.
References
Barbarin, O. A. (1993a). Coping and resilience: Exploring the inner lives of African American children. Journal of Black Psychology, 19,478-492.
Barber, C. N., Bell, J. B., & Armistead, L. (2003). Parent–adolescent relationship and adolescent functioning among African-American female adolescents: Self-esteem as a mediator. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 12, 361-374
