Mental Health in the Primary Care Setting: Join Experts in Web Discussion

One in four people in the world will be affected by mental disorders at some point in their lives. In low- and middle-income countries, most will not be treated; In high-income countries, as much as half of them will not receive treatment. (World Health Organization. 2013. PDF.)

Today, some are calling for the integration of mental health in the primary care setting. Others note that the U.S. has not even succeeded in developing a community-based mental health care system reliably accessible to those in need. 

Whether you work here or abroad, mental health will impact your practice, and maybe your life, at some point. Sign up now to a free one-week virtual Expert Panel, November 18-22, to discuss this critical topic with our panelists from The National Alliance on Mental Illness, theCenter for Health Care Strategies; Boston Children’s Hospital; the Harvard Crimson Care Collaborative, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and Partners In Health.

1. Ken Duckworth, MD, serves as the medical director for The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI). He is double board certified in adult and child and adolescent psychiatry. Dr. Duckworth is an Assistant Clinical Professor at Harvard Medical School, and has served as a board member of the American Association of Community Psychiatrists.
2. Allison Hamblin is Vice President at the Center for Health Care Strategies. There, she focuses on system-level strategies to promote integration of physical and behavioral health services in primary care and other settings, particularly for low-income populations.
3. Giuseppe Raviola, MD MPH, is medical director of the Psychiatry Quality Program at Boston Children’s Hospital, an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and of Global Health and Social Medicine at Harvard Medical School, and is involved in a variety of mental health work in rural communities here and in abroad. He notably leads the Dr. Mario Pagenel Fellowship in Global Mental Health Delivery with mental health clinicians in Rwanda, Haiti, and in the U.S.
4. Anjali Thakkar is the Co-Director of Behavioral Health at the Crimson Care Collaborative Chelsea in Boston. She has been implementing a program called IMPACT which incorporates mental health into primary care visits. She also has worked with the Institute for Healthcare Improvement on developing a tool for behavioral health organizations to assess their ability to integrate primary care services.

Experts from Partners In Health will also join the discussion:

• Fils-Aime Reginald, MD, Director of Mental Health Services, Hopital Universitaire de Mirabelais, Haiti.
• Rupi Legha, MD, psychiatrist supporting efforts to develop mental health care in Haiti.
• Stephanie Smith, MD, psychiatrist supporting efforts to develop mental health care in Rwanda.