A new Spanish-language mental health podcast based in Bloomington-Normal aims to help the community understand how to deal with stress.
Dr. Javiera Monardez Popelka first practiced medicine as a doctor in Chile, where she was born. She relocated to Minnesota for several years before finding her permanent home in Bloomington-Normal.
Monardez Popelka said the recent U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement [ICE] raids are what initially prompted her to find a way to connect with people who in many cases were afraid to leave their homes.
“Since many people were not leaving their houses, they were scared to be seen in public because of ICE and everything that was going on, especially in Minnesota,” Monardez Popelka said. “We decided to create some podcasts to support them so they could at least get some information, feel that someone is actually providing something for them even when they cannot go to the clinic.”
What started as a resource on trauma-informed care for immigrant families transformed into a holistic source for mental health tips. The first four episodes of the podcast, Growing Together and Taking Care of Each Other, are voiced in Spanish.
“I personally know people taken by ICE to detention centers and their families are struggling,” Monardez Popelka said. “So I really want to share it with everyone that I know, but also I want everyone that I know to share it with others because I want to reach those people that are not having any resources.”
Monardez Popelka is the founder and lead consultant of Familia Solutions, a Bloomington-Normal-based organization that serves the Latino community.
Services range from health education workshops and translation services to working alongside organizations like Sandy Hook Promise on youth violence prevention and community safety initiatives.
Familia Solutions paired up with HealthFinders Collaborative to create the podcast, a Minnesota-based community health center that offers help for underserved and uninsured families.
“I feel that this podcast, at least, is going to be a good way to know what is going on in our brains, why we are reacting in some way,” Monardez Popelka said.
Monardez Popelka voices the podcast with Claudia Lara De La Fuente, a physician and public health professional with Familia Solutions.
“We talk about stress, that’s the main topic, and how different strategies can help you improve it, or live with it, or just deal with different kinds of stress,” Monardez Popelka said.
Monardez Popelka said she models the conversations around a framework called HOPE, or Healthy Outcomes from Positive Experiences.
“It's four building blocks: community, healthy interactions and emotional support, healthy environments and also having everything you need to live,” Monardez Popelka said.
For now, she said, the podcast will continue to focus on stress-related issues.
“The idea is to just explain to people that stress is not bad unless you don’t know how to deal with it, and unless it’s like there all the time,” she said.
Monardez Popelka said sleep, exercise, nutrition and community are some of the many factors that tie into how people manage and handle stress.
Some of that stress people feel can come from doctors themselves, Monardez Popelka said.
“Even when you ask the doctor what’s going on, the doctor doesn’t take the time to explain you,” Monardez Popelka said. “When I was practicing as a doctor in Chile, I would take the time to explain to my patients with examples of what’s going on, what can happen, and I know the system doesn’t allow that here. So I really want people to be able to understand certain things about medicine, about what’s happening with your body.”
A gap Monardez Popelka said she hopes to address in the near future is the ability to answer health-related questions from her listeners, or engage with them in some way.
What’s ahead
Monardez Popelka said she plans to run the podcast indefinitely and has some ideas for its growth.
One idea she suggested was to invite other doctors onto the podcast to discuss difficult topics in layperson’s terms.
“Things that you never ask the provider because you don’t have time or because you don’t even know what to ask,” Monardez Popelka said. “I think that’s the issue. Many people don’t even know what to ask, but they want more information.”
Medicine may seem scary or mysterious to some people, Monardez Popelka said, but she wants people to enjoy it instead.
“I want to be in their shoes and be able to explain what they want to know,” Monardez Popelka said.
A potential solution for the unasked questions could be a post-podcast Q&A session with listeners who are seeking advice.
“If we have that Zoom group right after they listen to the podcast, then we don’t have to teach them anything,” Monardez Popelka said. “It’s just like a conversation about what they just listened to.”
Monardez Popelka modeled a similar format for a series of workshops she hosted geared toward educating parents on sexual health education during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We had 100 participants in English and 100 in Spanish,” Monardez Popelka said. “We did it with a clinic in Minnesota.”
Monardez Popelka said another potential future improvement for the podcast would be including an English narration to open the door for more listeners.
“I have many ideas, but I hope slowly I can start building a good information source for anyone in the community,” Monardez Popelka said.
A space for moms
Monardez Popelka also leads a weekly support group with the help of BrightPoint. She said the group gathers every Thursday to just talk or to have specific conversations led by topic.
“Motherhood. It’s hard. Especially if you don’t have any family around,” Monardez Popelka said.
Monardez Popelka said the invitation extends beyond mothers; teens, grandmothers and children are welcome to join, too.
The group’s ultimate goal is to reduce violence for children, she said, but not every meeting needs to mean business. Some days involve candle making, cooking or the spa.
“It’s a space for moms to feel woman again, and not just like, ‘I’m a mom taking care of a kid,’” Monardez Popelka said.
Monardez Popelka said she encourages anyone to come out and join her.
“We have free childcare for those moms. We offer food that day. So they can just take that hour and a half for themselves,” Monardez Popelka said. “Just hang out with other moms.”
The free meetings are held Thursdays from 5-6:30 p.m. at Eastview Church in Bloomington.
