Psychiatry Mental Health Policy Interest Group

The hope is to become better informed about how individual clinicians can become patient advocates, not only in the immediate clinical setting, but on a larger, system-wide setting. The primary goal of this group is to identify some of the potential challenges seen in the current healthcare system and to discuss solutions within the context of mental health policy and services. In doing so, we plan to use different meeting formats, including debates, current event discussions, case study presentations, and individual/panel speakers. The discussion group will provide a safe forum to think about and talk about different vantage points within the complex healthcare ecosystem. We hope to also invite participants from other health-related fields of psychology, primary care, public health, public policy, law, etc.

The goals of the Yale Psychiatry Mental Health Services/Policy Discussion Group are:

• Provide an opportunity for peer reflection and gather information about a wide variety of topics in order to mutually learn about how policies and healthcare systems can impact psychiatric practice on a regular basis.
• Postulate about the inefficiencies and benefits within various existing clinical settings in order to synthesize ideas for more effective projects and programs.
• Develop working groups to address and expand key themes that are identified.
• Identify topic areas in social psychiatry and public health that are useful/practical for residents and other stakeholders to learn about, with the hopes of developing a generalizable curriculum around these themes.

Leadership of the Yale Psychiatry Mental Health Policy Interest Group:
Resident Leaders – Taiwo Alonge & Marcos Moreno
Faculty Advisor – Anne Klee

2016-2017 Series

• Anita Everett, MD: APA President, Grand Rounds lunch discussion
• Susan Wolfe, PhD: Narcan to Combat the Opiate Epidemic: A Services Discussion on Use and Distribution
• Kiki Kennedy, MD: Mental Health Advocacy in Connecticut: An Overview and Case Example
• Public Psychiatry Career Panel with Tobias Wasser, MD; William Sledge, MD; Jeanne Steiner, DO; and Ece Tek, MD
• Matthew Erlich, MD: 21 Century Psychiatry: A Tertiary Specialty, a Primary Care Field, Neither or Both?
• Stanley Mathis, MD: Incorporating Geospatial Data and Social Determinant of Mental Health into Formulations and Decision Making

2015-2016 Series

• David Rosenthal, MD: Integration of Mental Health and Primary Care: Challenges & Successes
• Doreen Del Bianco: Legislative Program Manager at DMHAS: State Level Mental Health Advocacy Workshop
• Laurie Harkness: Director of Errera Center at the West Haven VA: Implementation of National Community Mental Health Programs: The Need for Effective Partnerships
• U.S. Senator Christopher Murphy: Mental Health Reforms at the State and National Levels
• Matt Chinman, PhD: The State of Practice and Research for Peer Support Specialists: A National Perspective
• Mark Schaefer, PhD: Connecticut State Innovation Model Initiative: Creating a Culture of Value