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South Asian (SA) immigrants are one of the fastest-growing immigrant groups in the United States. Due to the stigma associated with domestic violence among SAs, disclosing victimization experiences may be challenging. In circumstances where experiences are disclosed, informal help-seeking through family/friends is utilized more often than formal help-seeking. Therefore, it is essential for friends/family to be empowered to effectively intervene. B.R.A.K.E. the Cycle has been developed as an innovative online intervention for SA community members (informal resources) to provide support to those experiencing abuse. The goal of this intervention is to enhance responsibility and knowledge among bystanders. Utilizing a culturally responsive intervention is an integral step in enriching services provided by practitioners serving immigrants, which we highlight in this practice note.

This paper examines the effects of COVID-19 on service-engaged female survivors of IPV and makes recommendations for service providers based on these survivors’ voices. The researchers adopted an exploratory, descriptive, and qualitative approach to inquiry due to the novelty of the research questions during the early days of the COVID-19 in March 2020. Semi-structured interviews with service-engaged survivors were analyzed using inductive and deductive coding processes. Two categories arose from our qualitative questions. The first category, related to experiences with service providers, included the themes of varying levels of support and isolation. Within the theme of isolation, survivors discussed both positive and negative aspects of isolation. The second category refers to the impact of COVID-19 on survivors’ daily lives and focused on the theme of escalation. The theme of escalation had two subthemes 1) escalation of life-generated risks and 2) escalation of partner-generated risks. Given that the pandemic will continue until vaccines are fully distributed and that future public health emergencies may mirror many of the challenges identified in the current context, survivors residing at home will continue to need services, and agencies will continue to need additional resources to provide them. Therefore, we discuss recommendations that can have a bearing on services offered in the future.

This study utilized Andersen's model of health behavior to explore factors associated with mental health service utilization. We also examine rates for mental health service use, treatment preferences, and barriers to care. Data were collected utilizing web-based surveys. The sample consisted of first and second-generation African immigrants who had struggled with emotional or behavioral problems in the past 12 months (N = 323). Hierarchical logistic regression analyses were conducted to examine predictors of mental health service utilization. The majority of participants (79.5%) met criteria for probable major depression, and 63% sought mental health services. Findings showed that mental health service utilization was more significantly predicted by enabling and need factors. Age (odds ratio [OR] = 1.03), religiosity (OR = 1.11), acculturative stress (OR = 1.68), neighborhood risk (OR = 0.54), and work-productivity loss (OR = 2.93) were associated with increased likelihood of mental health service use (p < 0.05). Most common barriers to service use were hopes of self-healing (56.3%) followed by financial barriers (46.2%). Findings highlight the need for public health initiatives to increase mental health literacy and financial accessibility to mental health services in response to the high mental health need and identified barriers to care in this population.