This National Minority Mental Health Month, advocates say it’s time to center emotional support in cancer care — and ensure equitable access for all.
July marks National Minority Mental Health Month, a time to acknowledge and address the unique mental health challenges faced by communities of color. While much of the conversation rightly focuses on access to therapy and overcoming stigmas related to seeking help, one critical area that is often overlooked is the emotional toll of serious illness — especially cancer. For many patients of color, the cancer journey is not just a medical crisis; it’s a mental health emergency shaped by longstanding inequities, medical mistrust, and unequal access to care.
Supportive cancer care can be a powerful tool for both psychological and physical healing. Supportive care helps patients and caregivers address the unique and multifaceted challenges that come with a life-altering diagnosis, from emotional distress to financial stressors. It includes services like pain and symptom management, counseling, and help with decision-making. Yet too often, patients of color are left out of these services or encounter barriers that delay or deny their access. As we reflect on mental health this month, we must also confront how cancer care systems can either deepen trauma or become a source of healing.
As a Black woman who is supporting a national coalition on supportive care and a lifelong health advocate who founded a philanthropic foundation, each of us has seen how communities of color are expected to carry the weight of illness with quiet strength. Black patients are often praised for being resilient, but resilience shouldn’t mean suffering in silence or without support. The emotional toll of cancer doesn’t end at the diagnosis. It extends into the long waiting rooms, the overwhelming paperwork, and the sense that you’re navigating it all alone.
Read the full Op-Ed at Essence.com
By Sheri Biller, Co-Founder and Kamera Museau, Supportive Care Project Manager
This article was originally posted on Essence.com on July 18, 2025
