December 6th ​

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8:50AM-10:00AM

Achieving Health Equity:  Tools for Naming Racism and Moving to Action

Camara Phyllis Jones, MD, MPH, PhD is a family physician, epidemiologist, and Past President of the American Public Health Association whose work focuses on naming, measuring, and addressing the impacts of racism on the health and well-being of the nation and the world.

 

Achieving health equity requires 1) valuing all individuals and populations equally, 2) recognizing and rectifying historical injustices, and 3) providing resources according to need.

 

Racism is a huge roadblock to achieving health equity in the United States, yet many people are in staunch denial of its continued existence and profoundly negative impacts on the health and well-being of the nation.  And even those who acknowledge that racism exists sometimes feel ill-equipped to say the word “racism” out loud or take action to address it.

 

Dr. Jones will share tools for understanding and acting on four key messages:

 

Racism exists

Racism is a system

Racism saps the strength of the whole society

We can act to dismantle racism

She will share four of her allegories on “race” and racism that illuminate topics that are otherwise difficult for many Americans to understand or discuss.  She will also provide definitions, frameworks, and other tools to equip participants to engage in a National Campaign Against Racism with three tasks:  1) name racism, 2) ask “How is racism operating here?”, and 3) organize and strategize to act.

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10:30AM-12:00PM 

A2 Transformations in NH’s Children’s System of Care for Behavioral Health

This presentation will serve as an overview of the NH DHHS, Bureau for Children’s Behavioral Health (BCBH), the Children’s System of Care (CSOC), the current and future projects of BCBH as well as their role within NH’s behavioral health system. The presentation will dive deeper into the projects which are interconnected with the implementation of the Families First Federal Care Act and RSA 135-F System of Care Law for Children and a Trauma-Informed Care in Children’s Behavioral Health. The presentation will focus on: Residential Treatment System Transformation; the Comprehensive Assessment for Treatment (CAT); Families and Systems Together (FAST) Forward Program; the Transitional Residential (and Psychiatric) Enhanced Care Coordination of the Care Management Entity (TR-ECC); Mobile Crisis Response Teams, Substance Use Disorder with co-occurring mental health for children & youth 12-25; and, innovations in infant mental health programming. Adele Bauman, MS, Daryll Tenney, MS, MEd. & Kathleen Talbot, MSW

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1:00PM-2:30PM

B6 Workforce Resilience and Sustainability:  Organizational Leadership Promoting Clinician Well-Being

The global pandemic has added a new perspective on the topic of burnout and work-related compassion fatigue. The challenges we face in today's "new normal" ask healthcare providers to dig deeper for strategies to navigate increased ethical risks while maintaining productive and healthy work environments.  This workshop will review the science and data behind a national movement to increase patient care and safety by focusing on provider and clinician well-being. This workshop includes three parts: lecture, case presentations, small and whole group discussion.   Angela Thomas Jones, LCMHC, MLADC, Diane Fontneau, MS, LADC, NCC, NCTTP & Christine McKenna, LICSW, MLADC

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3:00PM-4:30PM​

C5 The 4 Pillars of Creating and Sustaining a Mentally Healthy Workplace Culture for Our Current and Future Workforce

Mental illness and substance misuse do not discriminate.  Unaddressed mental illness in the workplace costs employers billions of dollars each year.  Upon completion of this presentation, attendees will understand what it is like to live with mental illness, how to identify/support an employee in distress, how to decrease stigma in the workplace, the power of peer support in the workplace, how to shift to using person-centered language, and the role of the leader when creating a mentally healthy workplace culture.  A leading-edge organization has a workplace culture that empowers employees to step forward and say, “I’m not ok and I need help.” Kim LaMontagne, MBA & John T. Broderick, Jr

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December 7th

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9:00AM-10:00AM

DHHS, COVID-19 & Behavioral Health: A Vision for New Hampshire

Commissioner Lori Shibinette took the helm of NH Department of Health and Human Services in early 2020, right before the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Her previous positions include Deputy Commissioner at DHHS; CEO at NH Hospital; and Administrator at the Merrimack County Nursing Home.  While her tenure as DHHS Commissioner has been dominated by COVID-19, she will offer her perspective on behavioral health issues and how NH is moving forward.. This forward-looking discussion will address her vision to solve the state’s behavioral health challenges in 2022 and beyond.

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10:30AM-12:00PM

D3 NH's Crisis System Transformation & 9-8-8

This panel presentation will inform participants of the federal changes to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline number and the status of NH’s Rapid Response Crisis System Transformation. Speakers from the Department of Health and Human Services, NAMI-NH, Community Mental Health Center and Department of Safety will discuss progress on a behavioral health crisis system that serve residents across the lifespan and is inclusive of mental health, substance use, and suicidality. Julianne Carbin, MSW, Jennifer Sabin, MSW, Jennifer O’Higgins, M.A., Kenneth Norton, LICSW, Mark Doyle, MBA, ENP & Roger Osmun, PhD

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1:00PM-2:30PM

E6 Enhancing Provider Skills in Serving People who Actively Use Substances:  Facts and Strategies for People who Use Stimulants

In this collaborative presentation, representatives from NH Harm Reduction Coalition and SOS Recovery Organization will discuss evidence-based approaches to interacting with people who use substances and, more specifically, stimulants.  Discussion will include concepts of humility and curiosity to learn about people who use substances as precursors to have supportive and pragmatic conversations with clients; the harmful impacts of stigma on vulnerable and marginalized individuals who may use drugs; opportunities to engage clients who use drugs in setting and achieving goals; and collaborative goal setting for overdose and infection prevention with people who use drugs to augment substance disorder screening, treatment, referral, and recovery. Specific attention to stimulant-related concepts will be covered.  By the end of this session participants will be able to apply harm reduction principles to supporting people who use substances (including stimulants) who experience adverse drug effects.  Jason Lucey, DNP, FNP-BC & John Burns

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3:00PM-4:30PM

F4 Treatment Resistant Depression – Current Understanding, Treatment Approaches and Future Directions

Depression exacts a huge toll on public health.  The workshop is intended to enhance the understanding of challenges associated with treatment of depression that does not improve with treatment as usual.  Current treatments with antidepressants have only provided partial success in treatment, leading to a great need for novel approaches to treat Treatment Resistant Depression.  This workshop is intended to enhance the understanding of the severity of the problem and offer updates on therapeutic approaches.  Participants will identify criteria for the diagnosis of Treatment Resistant Depression; understand basic neurobiology of depression; learn pharmacologic approaches to its treatment; recognize Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation as an important tool in its treatment; and understand the evolving surgical brain stimulation treatments including deep brain stimulation and vagus nerve stimulation.  Ashwini Saxena, MD, PhD