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Kajsiab House

Madison, Wisconsin

Contact:

Doua Vang
Mental Health Center of Dane County, Inc.
625 West Washington Ave.
Madison, WI 53703
Phone: 608-240-9695
Email: doua.vang@mhcdc.org

Program Description:

In Hmong, kajsiab (Ga shee'ah) means the relief of stress and tension from worrying about the safety of loved ones.

Kajsiab House, founded in January 2000, is a program of the Mental Health Center for Dane County, Inc., in Madison, Wisconsin. It was developed for the Hmong community as a place where Hmong elders and their families could be safe, express and experience their culture, and increase their understanding and ability to live successfully within American culture. This unique center provides a truly therapeutic setting for all community members. Services take place in the Hmong language and the atmosphere reflects Hmong values, traditions, beliefs, and customs. Kajsiab House treats primarily major depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, and anxiety.

Kajsiab House incorporates culturally appropriate activities such as t'ai chi, English and acculturation classes, social groups, and alternative healing methods and medicines to improve mental health outcomes. Through mobile outreach, Kajsiab House provides psychiatric and social services, including diagnosis and assessment, individual and group therapy, and medication management counseling to the large population of homebound Hmong elders in the community.

Well-established evidence-based practice (EBP) guidelines have been used effectively in the Kajsiab House model program since its inception.  Two highly regarded EBP guidelines and protocols have been used with the Hmong refugee population: Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) and Medication Management Approaches in Psychiatry (MedMAP).  This project has also drawn heavily on published practices and evidence of the Clubhouse Model, the Model of Cultural Competence (as put forth by the National Center for Cultural Competence at Georgetown University), and the Mental Health Center of Dane County’s Mobile Outreach to Seniors Team (MOST).