EDC will co-host an international conference on mental health this year, the sixth gathering of this “one of a kind” forum.
“This event provides a unique venue where researchers, policymakers, and practitioners from many countries can learn from each other,” says Cheryl Vince Whitman, senior vice president and director of EDC’s Health and Human Development Division.
The World Conference on the Promotion of Mental Health and Prevention of Mental and Behavioral Disorders was launched in 2000 by the Carter Center, the Clifford Beers Foundation, and the World Federation for Mental Health. Since the first conference in Atlanta, Georgia, it has been held every two years worldwide, most recently in Australia where more than 800 attended.
This year’s forum, which will be held November 17–19, focuses on promoting equity in mental health. EDC will host dozens of speakers, including Sir Michael Marmot, 2004 winner of the Balzan Prize for Epidemiology; Michael DeGagné, executive director of the Aboriginal Healing Foundation; and Tanya Brown, sister of Nicole Brown Simpson.
Findings will also be shared from a recent Institute of Medicine report Preventing Mental, Emotional, and Behavioral Disorders Among Young People: Progress and Possibilities, regarded as the most useful framework in the field for promoting positive mental, emotional, and behavioral health in young people.
A pre-conference session on maximizing the involvement of school leadership will be held November 16.
“Over the years, we’ve seen new programs and training to promote positive mental health, and that deeper understanding has reduced the stigma and discrimination surrounding mental illness,” says Vince Whitman.
Originally published on July 16, 2010
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