Concurrent Sessions
Wednesday, May 16
Concurrent Session 1
1:40 - 2:40 p.m.
1A Strengthen our Workforce: Competency-based Skill Development
Identified Core Competencies for Direct Care Workers provide a road map
for skill development of staff in a rural/isolated environment.
“Growing our Own” with a road map is a promising model.
1B Collaborative Research Addressing Health Disparities in Rural
Alaska: Building on Alaska Native Cultural Strengths
This presentation discusses collaborations between Alaska Native
leadership and researchers at the University of Alaska Fairbanks which build
on cultural strengths to address health disparities in rural Alaska Native
communities.
1C WRAP - Around the Kenai Peninsula
This session is a journey to wellness and recovery with facilitators,
Gina and Crystal. M.E. Copeland's WRAP program is reaching around the world,
Alaska and the rural Kenai Peninsula. Explore your options, Join Us!
1D-1 Human Resource Needs as Perceived by Mental Health and Substance
Abuse Agencies in Southeast Alaska
Identification of human resource needs for mental health and substance
abuse agencies is of continuing concern. In this presentation, results
of recent surveys of administrators on this issue are described.
1D-2 Sensitivity to Change in the Alaska Quality of Life Instrument
A revised self-report quality of life instrument has demonstrated the
ability to show change over time. One showed statistically greater
improvement compared to others that were clinically meaningful.
1E-1 Patterns of Access and Service Delivery of Mental Health Services
to Hawaii Children and Adolescents: Urban vs. Rural
Examine differences in patterns of access and service delivery of mental
health services through Child and Adolescent Mental Health Division (CAMHD)
to Hawaii’s children and adolescents living in different geographic
locations.
1E-2 Development of Rural ACT in VA
This workshop will present the policy background and evaluation data that
led VA to implement ACT in rural settings. It will then outline the specific
administrative challenges experienced in implementing the VA rural ACT
(RANGE) program in rural areas. Clinical challenges and the role of
supplementary clinical staff outside the ACT team and of telemental health
interventions will be addressed. Finally, evaluation data on 300 RANGE
clients will demonstrate successful service delivery and outcomes of RANGE.
1F Healing and Empowerment through Cultural Attunement
This session will propose a model for emerging best practices in working
with Alaska Native people who have experienced trauma. This model will be
based on the role of Elders in the community, cultural attunement,
traditional ways of healing, and current evidence-based practices.
Concurrent Session 2
3:10 - 4:10 p.m.
2A AK-PIC: A Model Rural Psychology Internship Consortium
This workshop will present the Alaska Psychology Internship Consortium.
Ways in which this program may serve as a model pre-doctoral psychology
internship program for rural areas will be discussed.
2B Small and Strong: Understanding the Stability of an FASD Diagnostic
Team in Rural Alaska
Alcohol-exposed pregnancies are highly concerning. The Kenai Peninsula
has addressed this issue since 2000. This session highlights successes and
challenges of responding to fetal alcohol spectrum disorders in rural
Alaska.
2C Adult Learning and Indigenous People: Promising Practices in
Human Service Education with Rurally Based Indigenous Practitioners
This workshop will explore the field of adult learning and indigenous
people within the context of human service education serving rural Alaska.
Perspectives informing cultural attunement and context will be explored.
2D Promoting Behavioral Health Equity for Children and Families Living
in Rural Communities
This workshop will examine factors that contribute to disparities in
behavioral health outcomes for children and families living in rural
communities, and will identify strategies to promote behavioral and overall
health.
2E Mission Possible: Developing and Deploying a Mental Health
Workforce in California
This panel will highlight both state and local activities that have been
implemented in California since the implementation of the Mental Health
Services Act Workforce Education and Training component.
2F Older Workers, Older Consumers: Is Alaska Prepared for the Silver
Tsunami
The State of Alaska is at a tipping point; with the highest growing
senior population per capita, we are not a “young” state anymore.
Compounding that is it’s not just an aging population with higher behavioral
health disorders and dual diagnoses; it is also an aging behavioral health
workforce that cares for them. How will Alaskans deal with both issues
to successfully ride the “silver tsunami”? Innovative solutions are being
implemented today to plan for the tidal wave, but will it be enough? This
session explores past lessons learned and future plans in action.
Thursday, May 17
Concurrent Session 3
9:40 -10:40 a.m.
3A When Two Worlds Collide: What do Clinicians Need to Know About
Military Culture to Assist Returning Veterans?
This presentation will address barriers to the reintegration of veterans
to civilian life. We will explore facets of military culture that
results in the anger and distrust that impairs therapeutic alliances and
address means of reducing those impediments.
3B Clinical Supervision via Telebehavioral Health in Alaska - Emerging
Best Practices
This presentation aims to provide a compilation of emerging best
practices in direct service to clients and in clinical supervision via
telebehavioral health that are applicable to rural Alaska.
3C Opportunities/Programs for Rural Communities
In addition to the National Institutes of Health, many
opportunities/programs supporting rural communities are available at various
Federal Agencies and private organization. An overview of
opportunities/ programs at Federal Agencies will be discussed. A
summary of rural resources and contacts at various federal agencies
including Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
(SAMHSA), Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), Agency for
Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), US Department of Agriculture (USDA)
on Rural and Community Development, US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)
and Federal Communication Commission (FCC) will be provided.
3D-1 Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation: A Promising
Practice for Supporting Early Childhood Mental Health in Rural Communities
This session will discuss the strengths and challenges of early childhood
mental health consultation as a promising practice for supporting early
childhood mental health in rural communities.
3D-2 Manitoba's Rural and Northern Psychology Program: Celebrating 15
Years of Recruiting and Retaining Doctoral Level Psychologists to Rural and
Northern Manitoba
This presentation will provide a brief overview of the current Canadian
literature related to the recruitment and retention of health care
professionals in rural and northern communities and provide an example of a
Canadian program aimed at recruiting doctoral level psychologists to rural
and northern Manitoba.
3E-1 AgrAbility: A Wrap-Around Program that Increases Quality of Life
Levels of Farm and Ranch Families with Disabilities
The authors will present results of a study of 300+ ranch and farm family
members with disabilities and of a promising approach--AgrAbility.
3E-2 Agricultural Mental Health Therapist Competencies
This presentation reports on a validation study of Agricultural mental
health therapist competencies essential to effectively provide mental health
services to agricultural families. A summary of the study results,
their implications for specialized agricultural mental health training, and
their usage in empirical testing of which skills and therapies work best
with agriculture families will be discussed.
3F-1 Parent-Child Interaction Therapy in Rural Appalachia
This paper will describe an empirically-supported parent training
program. Potential cultural modifications to this program for Appalachians
will be discussed as well as clinical implications for these adaptations.
3F-2 Peer Recovery Support Services
This presentation will help attendees to understand the array of services
provided by peers that help build resiliency and self-management skills.
Attendees will understand how peers in a variety of settings can reduce the
burden on Case Managers and Behavioral Health Technicians and allow for a
higher quality of services. Attendees will understand how to develop, train
and incorporate peers as a workforce development model.
Concurrent Session 4
1:00 - 2:00 p.m.
4A The Enhancement of Behavioral Health Workforce Through Cultural
Attunement, Elders and the Development of Community Health Workers
This session will introduce the practice of cultural attunement and the
role of Elders in rural behavioral health practice. Also, this session
will showcase RAC’s Community Health Worker Tool providing resources for the
development of CHW programs.
4B Barriers and Facilitators of Drug Treatment Entry Amongst Rural and
Urban African-American Cocaine Users
The workshop will describe the complexities of perceived need for
treatment and identify potentially modifiable internal beliefs and external
structures that may increase treatment participation amongst rural
African-American cocaine users.
4C Integrated Care through Education (ICE): Diabetes Education for
Caregivers of Persons with Mental Health and/or Intellectual Disabilities
This workshop showcases one approach to the integration of primary care
for multiple conditions: diabetes, mental illness, and intellectual
disability, along with outcome data and an analysis of model applicability.
4D-1 Exploring the Long-Term Care Needs of Alaska Native Elders in Two
Regions of Rural Alaska
This presentation will explore the long-term care needs of Alaska Native
elders in two regions of Alaska and highlight the challenges and benefits of
providing long-term care services with this growing population. Using
both data and the elders' words, this session will provide an overview of
the long-term care needs of elders and health care providers to promote
aging in place and healthy communities.
4D-2 Mental Health Treatment Preferences of Alaska Natives
This session is a report of an empirical study investigating the mental
health treatment preferences (type of treatment, type of provider, provider
characteristics, and counseling behaviors) of a sample of Alaska Native
university students.
4E Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault: Addressing Multiple Forms of
Abuse and Promoting Relationship Wellness in Rural and Remote Alaska
This presentation provides participants with increased understanding of
the continuum of ways to work to end violence in rural communities.
The workshop will begin by exploring issues facing rural women and families
impacted by multiple forms of abuse including domestic violence/sexual
assault, sexual abuse, substance use issues, trauma and other mental health
issues. Practical tips learned from Alaskan Projects are offered to enhance
ability to assess multiple forms of abuse as a barrier to sobriety and
wellness and substance abuse, trauma and mental health as a barrier to
safety for families. Participants will be provided with strategies to
improve their comfort level and capacity to address safety, recovery
planning for individuals in remote and rural communities impacted by
multi-abuse trauma. The workshop will also explore community level norm
change and promising domestic and sexual violence prevention programs for
rural communities in Alaska. The prevention content will place a specific
emphasis on lessons learned in rural areas and core principles for effective
prevention.
4F Recruiting, Training, and Sustaining Rural Mental Health Therapists
The session will be a PowerPoint presentation with handouts. Results of
my research will be presented, with time for discussion.
Concurrent Session 5
2:10 – 3:10 p.m.
5A Awakening Spiritual Unity
The mission is to help re-establish wellness, wholeness, and dignity in
accordance with our traditional ancestor's teachings to all our relations
who are suffering in mind, body or spirit. We are all related, the
healing of one promotes the healing of all.
5B Farm Family Relationships & What Do You Tell the Kids?
This workshop will define relationship issues somewhat unique to farm
family relationships; assist parents and mental health providers to assist
children during times of farm financial stress; and provide ideas of
personal self-help for stressful situations.
5C Identifying Problem, Compulsive, Pathological Gamblers in Your
Existing Caseload
The purpose of this workshop is to increase awareness of the need to
assess participation in gaming in the client's history and the need to
educate how participation in this activity may influence the client's
recovery process.
5D Ensuring Well Being in Times of Environmental Change: A Case
Study of Strategies Employed by Yup’ik Women During the Salmon Decline of
2000
Session explores strategies employed by several Yup’ik women from Western
Alaska to ensure their households had sufficient food security in a time of
environmental change. Implications for rural behavioral health practices
will be offered.
5E Assessment Based Intervention: Senior Center without Walls
This workshop will discuss the use of grounded theory research in
assessing a rural senior population and the use of a senior center without
walls concept for breaking senior isolation.
5F-1 Expanding Access for Rural and Indigenous Students To The
Behavioral Health Workforce in Alaska Through Distance Education
This session will describe and critique approaches to distance education
in Alaska. The numbers of Indigenous students in the behavioral health
professions remains very low. The ways faculty can make urban-based
professional-degree programs more accessible for Indigenous students will be
presented.
5F-2 Criminalizing Mental Illness
This presentation will describe the history and practices involved with
criminalizing people with mental illnesses. Innovative policies and
diversion programs will be discussed.
Poster Session 6
3:20 - 4:20 p.m.
Poster 1 Meditation: Benefits and Application in Diverse Populations
Meditative practices benefit a number of psychiatric and medical
conditions and the basic principles can easily be learned and applied to a
variety of populations and cultural contexts.
Poster 2 Collaborations Between Primary Care and Behavioral Pediatric
Health Clinics
Research presented described trends between primary care and behavioral
pediatric health clinics in urban and rural Nebraska. The timeliness
of the research highlighted the relevance of integrated care.
Poster 3 Disseminating Evidence-Based Therapy for Traumatized Children
in Rural Settings
Dissemination of an evidence-based treatment for traumatized children can
be successfully accomplished in rural and urban communities statewide
through the use of targeted outreach; teleconferencing; and remote,
internet-based data entry.
Poster 4 Factors Influencing Intentions to Seek Counseling
This poster will discuss the factors that influence individuals from
rural areas to seek, or not seek, mental or behavioral health services.
Poster 5 Quality of Life Indicators for Northern Plains Indians
The poster will show the quality of life indicators for Northern Plains
Indians.
Poster 6 Physician Satisfaction with Integrated Mental Health Service
Delivery Models in Rural and Urban Pediatric Primary Care
The poster aims to increase understanding of the qualities and factors
that physicians view as assets in rural and urban primary care settings.
Also, the dynamics relevant to successful integrated service delivery models
in rural and urban health care settings will be discussed.
Poster 7 Transcending the Barriers to Rural Mental Health in a
Shifting Economy Reaching Out to Rural Families
This mixed methods study on the use of teletherapy as a feasible
intervention strategy relevant to reaching out to rural residents.
Poster 8 Social Class and Social Dominance Attitudes in Rural Health
Care Workers
This project will investigate the social class and social dominance
beliefs of health care workers in rural and urban health care settings.
Poster 9 Teaching Kids to Cope in Rural Areas
Teaching Kids To Cope (TKC) is a behavioral intervention included in
SAMHSA National Registry of Evidenced Based Practice and Programs (NREPP).
TKC teaches youth to cope with stress.
Poster 10 Preparing to Make a Difference in Alaska
This qualitative study about experiences of Pre-Doctoral Psychology
Interns trained to meet unique challenges of practicing psychology in both
rural and urban settings which supports and respects all cultural groups.
Poster 11 Dismantling CDI: Could Labeled Praise Alone be enough to
Decrease Attrition and Maintain Positive Treatment Outcomes for Rural
Parents with Significant Treatment Barriers?
The CDI phase of PCIT can decrease strain on parent-child relationships.
Reducing the number of CDI sessions may make PCIT more accessible for rural
parents experiencing treatment barriers.
Poster 12 Ethical Code Comparisons Across Professional Fields
Highlighting similarities and differences between ethical codes across
professional health fields, this information serves as a guide for working
with interdisciplinary professionals in a rural setting.
Poster 13 Early Termination from Empirically Supported Interventions:
Strategies for Improving Retention in and Dissemination of Parent Training
Programs
This poster reviews factors that influence attrition in parent training
interventions for children with difficult behaviors and suggests strategies
that target those factors, with a focus on rural communities.
Poster 14 Addictions Screening in Rural Mental Health Care
Over 23 million individuals in the U.S. are identified as needing
treatment for alcohol and/or other drug problems, however only about 1 in 5
receive treatment. Rural areas may be exposed to poverty, lack of
specialists and lack of access to services. Purpose is to discuss results of
evidence based screening, brief intervention, and referral to treatment for
alcohol and drug use in rural health care settings.
Friday, May 18
Concurrent Session 7
9:50 -10:50 a.m.
7A Walking the Talk about Talking Circles
This session is designed as an active adult learning experience for
participants to gain an understanding on how to design and facilitate
Talking Circles/Circles-of-Talk in culturally diverse settings.
7B-1 Real Heroes Share Their Emotions: The Origins and Consequences of
Machismo
Where do macho and machismo come from? Who first said, “Cowboy Up and
Bear Down?”A multimedia showcase investigates and demonstrates the origins
and outcomes of “Machismo” in America.
7B-2 Dual Relationship Decision Making in Rural and Remote Settings:
What Can We Learn from the Locals?
This session will examine the professional experiences of forty four
rural/remote social workers and social service workers from northern Canada
who manage dual relationships as part of their day-to-day practice.
7C Developing the Consumer Workforce: Indiana's Certified Recovery
Specialist Program
This workshop introduces Indiana's model of peer training and
certification for individuals with a mental health and/or addiction
diagnosis. Data regarding the effects of training and employment on the
peers is presented.
7D-1 Perceptions of Suicide and Suicide Prevention in Rural Alaska
Qualitative interview study conducted to understand the perceptions of
rural and indigenous students concerning the problem of suicide, as well as
opinions surrounding the topic of suicide prevention.
7D-2 Talking About Suicide Among Alaska Native College Students:
Implications for Mental Health
Alaska Native college students from rural villages were interviewed about
their experiences with suicide. Self-report data suggest that talking about
suicide may have mental health benefits.
7E-1 What is a Certified Parent Support Provider and How is this
Applicable to Rural/Frontier Children's Services?
This presentation will engage participants in reviewing the national task
and skills analysis of Parent Support Providers crucial to a competent
workforce in children's health and behavioral health services.
7E-2 Social Work in a Very Rural Place: A Study of Practitioners in
the Upper Peninsula of Michigan
This study focuses on characteristics of social workers practicing in an
extremely rural region of the United States, the Upper Peninsula (UP) of
Michigan. Using a mixed-methods design, social workers were surveyed and
interviewed with a variety of questions, including why they work in the UP,
challenges and joys of such rural practice, and how they describe living in
such a remote place.
7F The Right Care, in the Right Place, at the Right Time -- Using
Innovative Technologies and Communication to Support Rural Veterans
This workshop will demonstrate how Three Wire Systems, LLC’s VetAdvisor®
Services is utilizing technology to connect with veterans living in rural
areas.
Concurrent Session 8
11:00 a.m.– 12:00 p.m.
8A Components of Integrated Model
Integrated wellness delivered by Peers in a clinical or recovery setting
addresses the whole health needs of clients. This Model uses Wellness
Recovery Plan, Peer Whole Health, SMART Recovery and Happiness Health to
address recovery, create significant outcomes in behavioral, physical health
and builds resiliency.
8B Primary Health Care Integration with Behavioral Health Care in
Rural Settings: The Verde Valley Guidance Clinic Primary Care Integration
Initiative
The focus of this workshop will demonstrate the importance of integrating
primary health care with behavioral health care for severely mentally ill
patients residing in rural areas.
8C Cultural Attunement in Health Professions Education and Practice
Is it possible for any human being to be “culturally competent”? The
presentation will present evidence that competence is a lifelong quest
toward achieving positive outcomes for health providers, not necessary a
certificate that is framed and put on an office wall. The term “attunement
is much more productive and suggests a dynamic continuous evolving
environment.
8D-1 Understanding and Addressing the Alaska Native Cancer
Survivorship Experience
We will describe the 'Understanding the Alaska Native Cancer Experience
Project'; a community-academic partnership, and will share how Alaska Native
survivors describe their ability to cope during their cancer journey.
8D-2 Primary and Behavioral Health Care Integration: A Residency
within a Residency - a Win-Win Option
This presentation and discussion will review the evolution and creation
of a multifaceted integrated behavioral medicine program within the Alaska
Family Medicine Clinic as it evolves with the Medical Family Home.
8E Chronic Pain and Native America Journeying
This is an interactive training designed to help the participant learn to
use native journeying as a tool to treat chronic pain and comorbid mental
health disorders.
8F Dementia and Developmental Disabilities: How Can You Tell What is
Going On?
This interactive session will examine the complexities of assessment,
diagnosis and treatment of dementia in individuals with cognitive
impairment/developmental delays through a series of case-based examples and
group discussion by session participants.