Call for Presentations: National Association for Rural Mental Health 35th Annual Conference
Albuquerque, New Mexico June 17-20, 2009
The 2009 Conference Planning Committee welcomes you to submit presentations to the National Association for Rural Mental Health’s 35th Annual Conference to be held at the Hyatt Regency, Albuquerque, New Mexico, June 17-20, 2009. This annual meeting is unique in the way in which it brings together a broad range of participants—consumers, clinicians, family members, administrators, program/service providers, researchers, and policy makers-- who all share a common zeal to learn about, improve and promote behavioral health care in rural and frontier settings.
Our theme this year—Connecting Neighbors: Finding Strength in Community--speaks to our basic commitment to build community among ourselves as neighbors in the public and private worlds, in the university and in government, at home and in school, at religious and spiritual centers and in the clinic. We believe in building partnerships, breaking down barriers to conversation and change, and learning from one another. The goals for this year’s conference are to
- Create a sustained dialogue about rural and frontier behavioral health
- Highlight assets that exist in rural communities
- Foster an environment that encourages people to make connections and lasting participatory networks.
We anticipate receiving presentations in many different and interactive formats including workshops, papers, posters, and roundtable discussions from consumers, family members, researchers, service providers, clinicians, administrators, and policy analysts. We are interested in learning together so we can build innovative programs, create strategies for change, envision successful pilot projects and pioneer lasting partnerships. We also anticipate seeing formal research and outcome studies submitted by both new researchers and those with years of experience.
The conference committee has designated these focus areas as being of particular interest for the 35th annual meeting: workforce development; innovative treatment modalities including-- telehealth and the integration of traditional and western healing practices; evaluation and research; recovery and resiliency; cultural sensitivity; co-occurring disorders and collaboration in many domains including partnerships between higher education and clinical sites, between the public and private worlds, with tribal communities, and within existing institutions and organizations. We will consider submissions about other topics as well.
We look forward to receiving your proposal forms and to seeing you in Albuquerque next June!