November 20, 2010

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World Federation for Mental Health Conference

The 6th world conference of the World Federation for Mental Healthwas held in Washington, DC, on November 17-19, 2010.  Sir Mason Durie provided a keynote on Addressing Imbalances in Mental Health for Indigenous populations, with great response.

The Wharerātā Declarationwas presented in workshop to about 25 people by Holly Echo-Hawk and Rose Sones, and was received with interest. 

Planning for IIMHL 2011

With input from Group members, a letter was sent to Pam Hyde at the US Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration (SAMHSA) to outline the recommendations and contributions that we can make at the 2011 IIMHL event.  

Over the WFMH conference, IIMHL key people met to start planning the next IIMHL network meeting scheduled on September 12-16, 2011, in San Francisco.  Representatives from the US Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration (SAMHSA), IIMHL, and Wharerātā discussed indigenous involvement in planning.  Holly Echo-Hawk Wharerātā.

Wharerātā will be represented in the planning team with SAMHSA and Canada on the leadership exchanges and the networking meeting, by Holly Echo-Hawk and Rose Sones.  Wharerātā will have a plenary during the networking meeting to speak about our Declaration and about indigenous leadership, as well as additional indigenous visibility throughout the networking meeting.  There will be multiple simultaneous leadership exchanges hosted by indigenous organizations and leaders in Canada and the US, to highlight our successful practices across relevant themes of the 2011 event. 

The overall theme is "A Different Kind of Leadership", announced by Pam Hyde at the closing of the 2010 event.  The ten subthemes are:

• Leadership
• Substance Abuse
• Prevention
• Workforce Development
• Housing
• Trauma
• Behavioral Health / Primary Care Integration
• Indigenous Populations
• Military Families
• Outcomes and Quality

Stay tuned for updates on planning for 2011.  See you in San Francisco!