The World Association for Psychosocial Rehabilitation (WAPR) Philippines will hold its annual conference to discuss contemporary developments and current concerns in mental health in the country on Nov. 28-29 at the Pag-asa Hall of the National Center for Mental Health (NCMH) in Mandaluyong City.
Actions for harnessing new technologies and new concepts in the promotion of mental health will also be defined at the conference.
WAPR Philippines is a nonprofit organization of psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, public administrators, media practitioners, family caregivers and mental health professionals. It is one of 81 member-countries of the Global World Association for Psychosocial Rehabilitation.
It is aimed at uplifting the lives of people with mental health conditions, preventing relapse, and decongesting mental health facilities.
The conference theme is “Resetting Philippine Mental Health: New Technologies, New Concepts.” Prof. Anil Thapliyal, executive director of the e-Mental Health International Collaborative (eMHIC), of which the NCMH is a member, will be the keynote speaker.
The major topics to be discussed are “Artificial Intelligence and Mental Health” and “Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Machine with Neuro-navigation System of the UP-Philippine General Hospital.”
The guest speakers include Dr. Andrew Greenshaw, a professor of psychiatry and neuroscience at the University of Alberta in Canada and scientific director of Apec Hub for Mental Health, and Kristine Ann M. Carandang, data scientist and occupational therapist of the adjunct faculty at the Asian Institute of Management.
On Nov. 30, WAPR Philippines will hold its 25th Mini-Olympics for service users and family caregivers at the NCMH, 7 a.m.-3 p.m., with the theme “Out of the Shadows, Into the Sunshine!”
The event is intended to help prepare service users for smooth family and community reintegration. Having been educated on mental illness and now shorn of the stigma, they are now advocates for mental health and help promote mental health awareness in communities.
The 10 participating agencies are the NCMH (host), Jose Fabella Center (co-host), Sanctuary Center, St Theresa’s Home that Cares, Divine Mercy Psychiatric Facilities, PGH-Ward 7, Veterans Memorial Medical Center, Algon’s Place, Cavite Center for Mental Health, and Elsie Gaches Village.
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