Giang Nguyen
In This Section
Giang Nguyen picture
Giang Nguyen

Hanoi, Vietnam

WHAT IS YOUR SPECIFIC AREA OF INTEREST IN YOUTH MENTAL HEALTH ADVOCACY? 

Suicide Prevention Advocacy, Research Advocacy

WHY IS YOUTH MENTAL HEALTH ADVOCACY IMPORTANT TO YOU?

As a future clinical psychologist, I hope people will be more aware of how important it is to take care of their emotional and psychological well-being. Sharing is certainly caring, I can reach out to more people with an advocacy program than an individual therapy session.

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE MENTAL HEALTH IN YOUR COMMUNITY?

We are in great shortage of psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, etc. in Vietnam. People are talking more about mental health, but reliable sources are lacking. Many people must rely on pseudoscientific methods to treat mental disorders. Moreover, certain topics (e.g., suicide, self-harm) are still kind of a taboo.


PROPOSED FELLOWSHIP PROJECT

Project: Suicide literacy and suicide stigma in Vietnamese high school students and their parent.

There is a lack of suicide-related research in Vietnam as suicide is kind of a taboo topic to talk about.

My project includes two parts: 

1. Research

  • Research target: approximately 1000 student-parent pairs in 4 high schools in Hanoi 
  • Research questions: ‘What is the current state of suicide literacy, suicide stigma, and suicide ideations of Vietnamese high school students and their parents?’ and ‘What is the relationship between suicide literacy, suicide stigma, suicide ideations, and help-seeking intentions of Vietnamese high school students and their parents?’
  • Short-term goal: more suicide-related research 
  • Long-term goal: suggestions for more efficient suicide prevention programs in the future 

2. Provision of scientific information to increase suicide literacy and reduce stigma 

  • Formats: workshops, infographics 
  • After the students take part in the research survey, they will be offered scientific information related to suicide and how to talk safely about suicide 

I expect this project is just the first step and may lead to many suicide prevention projects in the future. There's a limit to what one person can do, so I'm taking one step at a time.