. . .from the APHA, Nov. 5-7
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| Topics: advocacy, consumers, disaster, military, PTSD, research, stigma, suicide, workplace
Wednesday
Dr. Ron Manderscheid listens to participants in a workshop about PTSD -- likely to remain a public health issue for decades -- while they discuss strategies for expanding knowledge about prevention and treatment, resources, and systems of care for soldiers and their families. Manderscheid has written about strategies for reintegrating soldiers returning from Iraq or Afghanistan in Helping Veterans Return. View his presentation, Responding to the PTSD Crisis Among Returning Vets from the APHA.
Someone examines literature from SAMHSA on the last day exhibits are on display at the Washington Convention Center.
Tuesday round table sessions
Case Western Reserve University Professor David Beigel hosted a conversation about employment as part of the process of recovering from mental illness and substance abuse. Beigel discussed findings from a three-year longitudinal study (N=220) about supported employment in Ohio.
A discussion of a suicide prevention strategy in Colorado which trains local community residents with crisis intervention skills. About 1,300 people have been trained thus far in ten communities.
Susan Bergson (left) and Sarah Hoffpauir (right), of the Louisiana Public Health Institute, have been working to reconstruct the infrastructure to meet mental health needs in New Orleans. Although the population is only 60 percent of what it was before the disaster, in some parishes the rates of serious mental illness are three times greater than before. Here they discuss the four traumas endured by the local community: (1) Hurricanes Katrina and Rita; (2) levy failures and flooding; (3) civil unrest; (4) delays in rescue nd reconstruction.
Opening day events -- Monday
The American Public Health Association's first full day of meetings in Washington, D.C., started with a lively session on "Consumer and Family Involvement in Mental Health Treatment Decision." Highlights of the people, activities and tools promoting recovery and the consumer movement include:
Mary Evans, RN, Ph.D., receives the Carl Taube Award for excellence in the field of mental health services.
Evans has been responsible for decades of remarkable work about community based treatments for children, families and for helping service providers meet their needs. She is currently the Dean of Nursing at South Florida University.
Twenty-eight mental health posters held visitors attention in the exhibit hall at Monday's late afternoon poster session.
