Partner Spotlight

Advice for Considering Culture from Family Partner Elisa Aucancela

“Imagine you’re a single mom, just doing what you need to do to survive. And then somebody asks, ‘How are you?’ or ‘How’s your mental health?’ when you’re in the fire of survival mode. The women I work with might say, My mental health? I do what I need to survive..."

Elisa is a family partner and executive director of El Grupo Vida, a nonprofit network of Hispanic/Latino parents. She hopes to help researchers better understand the importance of cultural competency and humility, reminding us that there’s more to this work than simply translating language. It’s about effectively operating in different cultural contexts, and altering practices to reach different cultural groups.

Network News

Share this Link to Help Others Engage with the National Research Agenda

CYSHCNet developed an interactive learning platform based on our national research agenda on health systems. It describes and provides guidance on how to implement elements of the national health systems research agenda developed by CYSHCNet in 2019-21. It is easy to navigate and provides challenges you may face, tips on organizing the study, and examples of potential projects.

LANGUAGE: This project is supported by CYSHCNet, which is supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) under UA6MC31101 Children and Youth with Special Health Care Needs Research Network. This information or content and conclusions are those of the author and should not be construed as the official position or policy of, nor should any endorsements be inferred by HRSA, HHS, and the U.S. Government.

In the News

• States Opting Out of a Federal Program That Tracks Teen Behavior as Youth Mental Health Worsens. As the covid-19 pandemic worsened a mental health crisis among America’s young people, a small group of states quietly withdrew from the nation’s largest public effort to track concerning behaviors in high school students.
• Stopping the Churn: Why Some States Want to Guarantee Medicaid Coverage From Birth to Age 6. Before the covid-19 public health emergency began in 2020, millions of children churned on and off Medicaid each year — an indication that many were losing coverage because of administrative problems, rather than because their family’s income had increased and made them ineligible. Now several states are rethinking enrollment policies.
• ‘Fourth Trimester’ Focus Is Pushed to Prevent Maternal Deaths. Maternal mortality review committees are looking for clues about what contributed to post-pregnancy deaths, finding that a whopping 84% could have been prevented. 
• A Foundation For Health And Well-Being: Meaningful Employment. Committed to empowering people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, Tennessee’s Medicaid program creates access to integrated employment opportunities.
• Kids’ Mental Health Care Leaves Parents in Debt and in the Shadows. Untold numbers of families are dealing with myriad challenges finding and paying for mental health care, and then ending up in debt. There are too few therapists and psychologists in the U.S. — and fewer still who accept insurance. That compounds the financial toll on families.

CYSHCNet is supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) under UA6MC31101 Children and Youth with Special Health Care Needs Research Network. This information or content and conclusions are those of the author and should not be construed as the official position or policy of, nor should any endorsements be inferred by HRSA, HHS, and the U.S. Government. Website

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