4 minute read
Championing Urban Mental Health
BY AMANDA CASTLEMAN
Each autumn, the Department of Psychiatry welcomes experts and community leaders for its Urban Mental Health Conference. “Inner city popula tions face unique challenges, from social determinants of health to care ineq uities,” explains organizer Petros Levounis, MD, MA, professor and chair of psychiatry and chief of service at University Hospital in Newark. “We don’t simply present the latest medications and psychotherapies. We explore the context of how these trends unfold for our communities.
“NJMS doesn’t pay lip service to addressing disparities. It walks the walk. We’re delighted that our annual Urban Mental Health Conference contributes to this critical work and celebrates the spirit of the school.”
Levounis’ colleagues echo this sentiment, including NJMS’s executive vice dean and professor of medicine Maria L. Soto-Greene, MD, MS-HPEd, FACP. She says: “The 2023 Urban Mental Health Conference signaled to our community that together we can overcome inequities in care. This conference exemplifies NJMS’s long-standing commitment to sharing knowledge and best practices, which in turn improves access, engagement, and outcomes in health care.
“I am extremely proud of our outstanding faculty and all those who join us for the betterment of our communities and the state of New Jersey.”
Each year, participants focus on different issues; in 2023, they focused on the intersection of spirituality and mental health. Speakers included Rashi Aggarwal, MD, professor and vice chair for education and director, residency training program. The previous theme was overcoming addiction in the age of fentanyl. Experts discussed developments ranging from the complex neurobiology of addiction to the disease’s co-occurrence with other psychiatric disorders. The conference also partnered with the American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry to provide federally approved buprenorphine training.
The Urban Mental Health Conference plans to continue offering such trainings periodically, Levounis explains, “allowing providers to treat patients with all the weapons available to modern medicine.”
Other topics have included transgender mental health and emerging modalities like nature therapy. In 2019, the conference tackled a new frontier: our growing reliance—and sometimes problematic overuse—of technology. “Most people do not know, or believe, that an all-encompassing, obsessive use of social media, texting, sexting, emailing, gaming, gambling, or eBaying can lead to a bona fide addiction,” Levounis said in an interview. “This conference create(d) opportunities for experts to develop new solutions to treat these emerging psychiatric conditions.” This autumn’s topic will likely focus on addiction as well.
The conferences welcomes physicians, nurses, nurse practitioners, psychologists, social workers, counselors, pharmacists, re- searchers and community members, a group that often includes leaders, judges and peace officers. “We’re very grateful to the community leaders,” says Levounis. “Starting with the Urban Mental Health Conference, elaborate collaborations often blossom, especially through our Northern New Jersey Medications for Addiction Treatment (MAT) Center of Excellence.”
The conference, launched in 2013, averages 150 participants, and many return year after year, drawn by the combination of networking, exchanging ideas and deep-diving into the latest mental health trends. “It’s a continuing-education project as well as a community-building event,” Levounis says.
The conference has hit a mature and confident stride, and Levounis doesn’t predict it will change its format any time soon. “All of us talk about change, change, change. Doing something right and maintaining it is often harder. Maintaining your weight is tough. Retaining your wealth, sobriety and all kinds of other things is tough. And of course, preserving your mental and physical health may be one of life’s toughest challenges.” ●
The conference, held on the first Thursday in November, typically costs $50 for trainees and $100 for practitioners and community members. NJMS students may attend for free. Enrollment opens around Labor Day.
Learn more at njms.rutgers.edu/psychiatry.
