2008 Conference Planning Under Way
August 6-9, 2008 in Burlington, Vermont
Rural Mental Health practice continues to evolve to meet the changing needs of the people and communities we work with and serve. Practitioners and systems need to address increasingly diverse rural and frontier populations with differing backgrounds and a wider range of differing abilities. Effectiveness in the new rural environment means practice must occur within the context of the wider community and include a broad range of collaborations and partnerships. This year’s conference will focus on practices and programs that lead the way in responding to service delivery in our evolving rural communities. The theme of this conference is: Changing Practices – Changing Rural Environment. The goals of the 2008 conference are:
1) To understand the ever changing rural and frontier identities
2) To meet the challenges of providing practice patterns that meet the needs of our changing rural and frontier environments
3) To come together and share what works, learn how to fund, staff and evaluate services and how to network with other rural providers, researchers, consumers and their families
Special focus areas this year include: Providing mental health services for people with developmental disabilities, for people with co-occurring substance abuse disorders, for people leaving incarceration, for the elderly, for children within schools, for children and youth with Autism spectrum disorders, and for transition age kids ages 18 to 22; integration and support of “non professionals” in the workforce; collaborations to develop housing for persons with mental health challenges; trauma informed services, employment services; and Bio-ethics and other ethical concerns in the delivery of care and treatment.
