Research efforts by Saahas
Saahas has been part of various conferences
  • Understanding The Acculturation Of South Asian Immigrant Women In The United States- Presented at Conference for Orange County Women’s Health Project
  • Voices of South Asian Women- LA County Dept of Mental Health
  • 2023 Family Life Education Summit: Healthy Relationships Curriculum for South Asian Immigrant Community
  • LA County DMH Speakers Bureau Multicultural Community Mental Health Conference, 2021- Culturally specific challenges and coping mechanisms unique to South Asian culture.
  • Cancer screening survey study presented at City of Hope Symposium
  • LA County DMH Speakers Bureau Multicultural Community Mental Health Conference, 2022-Healthy Families from the South Asian Perspective
  • Cultural Specific Outreach Training at LA County Department of Public Health
  • Acknowledging the Pain in the South Asian Community- Domestic Violence: Presented at CPEDV’s Shifting the Lens: Survivors and Families Coming into Focus Conference (November 4. 2020)
  • South Asian Mental Health Conference (SAMHC)- Saahas has been participating and presenting the ongoing research findings at SAMHC since 2019.

One of Saahas’s main missions is to be a positive force for change within the community, and an integral part of achieving this goal is through its commitment to research. By leveraging the power of research, Saahas aims to gather essential insights and data that can drive informed decisions and innovative solutions for addressing community challenges and bringing about sustainable improvements.

Saahas Youth presented research finding at SAMHC 2023 at CSU East Bay, Hayward
The Effect of COVID-19 on High School Student Stress
Our first youth research project was conducted by highschoolers all across the world, studying the effect of Covid-19 on high schoolers’ mental health. This research has been IRB approved, included data from over 200 survey participants, and is now at its publication phase waiting for approval. The major findings from this study show that the presence of the pandemic heightened stress in high school students all across the country.

Research mentored by: Dr. Marcus Crawford and Dr. Shruti Khanna

IRB approved by: Cal State Fresno

Conclusions

Compared to pre-COVID times:

Female students were more likely to feel a greater loss of control over their lives during the COVID-19 pandemic than male students within the family.

Students whose parents were essential workers were more concerned about the effect of COVID-19 on conflicts.

View Detailed Research
South Asian Hate Crimes

There has been a long-documented history of discrimination against Asians in the Unites States. The cases of bias and discrimination increased exponentially during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. In order to formally document the bias and discrimination faced by South Asians due to their ethnicity, Saahas for Cause staff and Saahas youth (College Committee) have been working under the guidance of Alliant International University professors on IRB approved research project.

Research mentored by: Dr Raji Natrajan- Tyagi, Dr Shruti Poulsen

IRB approved by: Alliant International University


Next Steps:
  • Data collection through qualitative  interviews.
  • Continued research, mentoring, and training with the research team.
  • Using the research findings to further community programing.
  • Disseminating the results of the study via publication and conference presentations.
View Detailed Research

Understanding The Acculturation Of South Asian Immigrant Women In The United States
Our third research project focuses on the acculturation of South Asian immigrant women in the United States. Although these women are achieving great success in their respective fields, they still face significant disparities during the acculturation process. To conduct this study, we launched a survey in 2019 to observe patterns of challenges faced by South Asian women and the strategies they used to overcome them. South Asian women Immigrants have been seen to be most affected by the acculturation process as they have additional responsibility, compared to south Asian men, of being primary transmitters of culture, values, and traditions to their families and have the hardest time adapting to the host county’s cultural values (Pew Research Center).

Research mentored by: Payal Sawhney

Study presented at: OC Women Health Project Conference

View Detailed Research
Saathi Research
Misson Vission

Partners in Harmony is a program created for promoting conversations around women empowerment, quality of life in USA with respect to family relationships and individual’s capacity to be flourish as an independent individual, even while staying with family, in this country. The conversations are promoted primarily through workshops that work on reduction in harm, and improvement on protective factors. These workshops are based on curriculum created by experts in the field of Family Life with contribution from Saahas staff.

Saathi program creates workshops around healthy communications, healthy parenting, dating violence prevention, financial empowerment and system navigation. We also work with community leaders, religious leaders and community members to disseminate information and seed empowerment within the community. Data is collected through qualitative and quantitative feedback, and observations made during the workshops and home visits. The data obtained will be analyzed to determine best practices for work around prevention of domestic violence in the South Asian community. Since, there is hardly any data specifically for the South Asian community, Saahas for Cause along with collaborating professors from Syracuse and Alliant International Universities have applied for IRB approval to publish the findings from these workshops and data analysis.

Research mentored by: Dr. Kamala Ramdoss and Dr Raji Natrajan- Tyagi

IRB submitted to: Syracuse University

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