OMNA Session Track to Focus on Gulf Coast

The APA Office of Minority and National Affairs (OMNA) will continue its traveling regional mental health disparities elimination program with a special track called “OMNA on Tour in the Gulf Coast: Eliminating Mental Health Disparities in Diverse and Underserved Populations.” Since 2005 OMNA on Tour has visited Washington, D.C., the Delaware Valley, and the Midwest to raise awareness of the manifestations of mental health disparities across the nation and to stimulate collaboration within communities to achieve optimal mental health for ethnically and racially diverse populations.

OMNA has tailored this “conference within a conference” to the region in which the institute is being held, with a special focus on the underserved populations in the Gulf Coast region affected by hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Among the highlights of the track are presentations addressing the cultural diversity of the Gulf Coast and its impact on mental health, regional mental health responses to Hurricane Katrina, resilience in children and youth, underserved elderly populations post-Katrina, mental health needs of military personnel and veterans of color post-Katrina and Iraq, suicide in diverse populations, wellness strategies for recovery personnel, and mental health/faith community collaborative approaches.

Listed below is an abbreviated version of the “OMNA on Tour in the Gulf Coast” track. A special insert will be distributed at the institute to guide participants regarding the track's rich offerings.

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2007

Workshops

10 a.m.-11:30 a.m.
      OMNA on Tour in the Gulf Coast: APA Making an Impact on Disaster, Diversity, Disparities, and Cultural Competence

1:30 p.m.-3 p.m.
      Challenges in Meeting the Mental Health Needs of People Displaced Out of State
      Recovery and Resiliency in Children: Comparison of Services After 9/11 and Katrina

3:30 p.m.-5 p.m.
      Root Shock: Understanding the Impact of Disaster and Displacement in the Gulf Coast States
      When the Levees Broke: A Spike Lee Documentary

Innovative Program

1:30 p.m.-3 p.m.
      Regional Responses to Katrina: Planning for the Future

Symposium

2 p.m.-5 p.m.
      Understanding Diversity in the Gulf Coast: Providing Culturally Competent, Consumer-Centered, Recovery-Oriented Care Across the Age Spectrum

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 12, 2007

Workshops

8 a.m.-9:30 a.m.
      Mental Health Resiliency and Vulnerability Among Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Populations

10 a.m.-11:30 a.m.
      Confronting Issues in Services to Military Populations: National Guard, Active Military, Soldiers of Color, and Service During Iraq
      Operation Gumbo: Mixing Strategies to Foster Resilience in Youth Affected by Disaster

1:30 p.m.-3 p.m.
      Suicide in Diverse Populations Post-Disaster: Myth or Reality?

3:30 p.m.-5 p.m.
      The Storm Before the Storm: Corrections, Mental Health, and People of Color Innovative Program

Innovative Program

1:30 p.m.-3 p.m.
      Innovative Responses to Katrina

Symposium

2 p.m.-5 p.m.
      Addressing Wellness in Recovery Personnel and Their Families

Lecture

3:30 p.m.-5 p.m.
      Co-Occurring Disorders and Disparities
      Rochelle Head-Dunham, M.D., Medical Director, Louisiana Office of Addictive Disorders

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2007

Workshops

8 a.m.-9:30 a.m.
      The Path Home for the Elderly: Underserved Elderly Populations of Post-Katrina Gulf Coast

10 a.m.-11:30 a.m.
      Mobilizing Resources to Eliminate Pre-Existing and Post-Disaster Health Disparities: The Regional Coordinating Center for Hurricane Response at Morehouse School of Medicine

1:30 p.m.-3 p.m.
      The Use of Telepsychiatry in the Post-Disaster Gulf Coast

3:30 p.m.-5 p.m.
      All Healers Mental Health Alliance: Bringing Hope and Help in Times of Disaster and All Hazards

Discussion Group

10 a.m.-11:30 a.m.
      The Emergence of Aftermath Psychiatry: A Paradigm Shift and Implications for Diverse and Underserved Populations

Lecture

10 a.m.-11:30 a.m.
      Risk Factors Are Not Predictive Factors Due to Protective Factors
      Carl C. Bell, M.D., president and CEO, Community Mental Health Council, and professor of psychiatry and public health, University of Illinois at Chicago

Symposia

8:30 a.m.-11:30 a.m.
      Sanctity and Sanity in the Face of Disaster

2 p.m.-5 p.m.
      Research in Diverse and Underserved Populations in the South: Current Realities and Imperatives for the Future