Anise Health: Culturally-Sensitive Digital Mental Health for Asian Americans

Abstract The 22 million Asian Americans (AAs) are up to 5 times more likely to drop out of mental health treatments prematurely and 50% more likely to report such treatment being ineffective compared to their White counterparts. As such, AA young adults have been the only racial/ethnic group with suicide as the leading cause of death. Since the onset of the pandemic,

AAs have experienced the greatest increase in the prevalence of depression and anxiety among all racial/ethnic groups driven by the exponential rise in anti-Asian hate and violence, with 41% of AAs reporting current anxiety or depression. However, 62% of AAs with current mental health diagnoses do not have access to effective mental health services, due to a lack of

evidence-based methods for addressing cultural stressors in therapy. Despite the association of deep-rooted systemic and interpersonal racism (e.g., perpetual foreigner stereotype and Model Minority Myth) and bicultural tension widely experienced by AAs with poor mental health outcomes, current evidence-based practices (“EBP”) are unable to effectively treat the impact of

such stressors for AAs. While efforts have been made to adapt EBP for certain minoritized groups, none to date have been developed to address such stressors in therapy for AAs. Anise Health is a pioneer in the technology-enabled delivery of culturally-adapted mental health care for AAs. Preliminary data have demonstrated Anise’s ability to drive high patient engagement

and retention, resulting in statistically significant improvements in depression, anxiety, and stress symptoms in just 8 weeks. We propose to challenge and innovate the current clinical practice paradigms by creating accessible, culturally sensitive, and inclusive digital tools for AAs. Aims: 1: Adapt and further develop evidenced-based, culturally-sensitive digital mental

health clinical tools that target the impact of race-based trauma and bicultural tension on mental health outcomes for the AA community. 2: Assess clinician receptiveness and use of Anise’s online platform tools for managing race-based trauma and bicultural tension with their AA clients for eight weeks, and revise accordingly. 3: Evaluate the initial efficacy of the online platform

tools for managing the impact of race-based trauma and bicultural tension with 64 AA clients. A successful outcome of this proposal will be digital materials that effectively address the impact of race-based trauma and bicultural stress for AAs on Anise’s digital health platform. It will be ready for a larger clinical trial and wider commercialization with partner institutions, which would

be the subject of a future phase II submission.