19-20 Sept 2012 - Chicago, US - The Social Determinants of Urban Mental Health: Paving the Way Forward

About the conference

Today, more than half of all global humanity lives in urban areas. That figure is projected to grow to more than 60 percent by 2050. Although cities possess conditions that promote good mental health, they also possess conditions - poverty, conflict, and social isolation - that are harmful to mental health. In fact, research demonstrates that city living is linked to increased risk for mental health problems.

This conference is jointly sponsored by University of Illinois (UIC) College of Medicine at Chicago, the UIC Jane Addams College of Social Work, and the Adler School of Professional Psychology. It is intended for mental health professionals including psychologists, physicians (particularly in psychiatry and primary care), and the wide range of professionals involved in social determinants of health issues: social workers, nurses, allied health professionals, community-based organizations, academicians, policy-makers, legislators, and philanthropists.

Related: Click here to read the Salon.com“Dream Cities” article featuring Lynn Todman, MHIA and this conference.

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Welcome Remarks (8:30-9:00)

Opening Keynote (9:00-10:15)Professor Sir Michael G. Marmot MBBS, MPH, PhD
Director, University College London Institute of Health Equity, Marmot Institute
Chair, European Review on the Social Determinants of Health and the Health Divide
University College London, London, United Kingdom

Break (10:15-10:30)

Panel: State-of-the-Art Research (10:30-12:00)This panel will feature the latest research findings on the impact of social conditions on the mental health of urban residents. Panelists include:

• Jennifer Ahern, PhD, MPH, Assistant Professor-Epidemiology at University of California-Berkeley
• Dr. Alex Richardson, Senior Research Fellow-Dept of Social Policy and Intervention, University of Oxford; and Founder Director of the UK charity Food and Behaviour Research

Lunch (12:00-1:30)

Afternoon Plenary (1:30-3:00)Kwame McKenzie, MD
Medical Director
Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Canada

Break (3:00-3:15)

Panel: State-of-the-Art Research (3:15-5:00)This panel will feature the latest research findings on the impact of social conditions on the mental health of urban residents. Panelists include:

• Liam C. Downey, PhD, Associate-Environmental Studies at University of Colorado-Boulder
• Frances E. (Ming) Kuo, PhD, Director-Landscape and Human Health Laboratory at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Thursday, September 20, 2012

Opening Plenary (9:00-9:45)Sarah Curtis, BA (Hons)(Oxon), DPhil
Professor of Health and Risk
University of Durham, Durham, United Kingdom

Break (9:45-10:00)

Panel: Applying What We Know (10:00-11:00)This session will feature a conversation with legal experts who will describe the legislative framework for social determinants' work including examples of current efforts to improve public mental health outcomes through the use of law, public policy, and cross-professional collaborations. Panelists include:

• Marice Ashe, JD, MPH, Founder and CEO, ChangeLab Solutions
• Mark L. Hatzenbuehler, PhD, Assistant Professor of Sociomedical Sciences, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University

Panel: Applying What We Know (11:00-12:30)This session will feature a panel of government officials who will describe how public agencies are operationalizing and applying the social determinants framework in their programmatic and funding priorities. Panelists include:

• Bechara Choucair, MD, Commissioner, Chicago Department of Public Health at the City of Chicago
• Camara Jones, MD, MPH, PhD, Division of Epidemiologic and Analytic Methods for Population Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• Margaret M. Round, Environmental Analyst at the Massachusetts Department of Public Health

Lunch (12:30-1:30)

Panel: Applying What We Know (1:30-3:00)This session will feature a panel of foundation officials who will describe how philanthropic bodies are operationalizing and applying the social determinants framework in their programmatic and funding priorities. Panelists include:

• Jane Isaacs Lowe, PhD, Senior Program Officer at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
• Rachel Wick, MPH, Director of Policy, Planning and Special Projects, Consumer Health Foundation

Closing Session (3:00-3:15)

Post-Conference Workshop: Mental Health Impact Assessment (4:00-5:30)Adler School faculty, staff and students will describe the MHIA process pioneered by its Institute on Social Exclusion as a tool for making public policy that promotes population mental health.

Facilitator: Lynn Todman, PhD, Executive Director-Institute on Social Exclusion