Mental Health and Faith Community Partnerships 2023: Needed Now More Than Ever!-View Presentation

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Video Summary

The seminar, led by Mary Lynn Dell, Chief of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at the University of Virginia, focuses on the collaboration between psychiatry and religious institutions. This partnership seeks to bridge the historical divide between mental health practitioners and religious leaders to better serve patients, especially those within faith communities. Over the years, many joint programs have been developed, underscoring the ongoing need for mutual cooperation highlighted during the COVID-19 pandemic and workforce shortages. <br /><br />Significantly, the APA Mental Health and Faith Community Partnership, initiated in 2014 under Dr. Paul Sommergrad’s leadership, developed a toolkit for faith leaders comprising a Mental Health Guide and a quick reference guide. These resources aim to enhance understanding of mental health within religious communities and offer guidelines for collaboration.<br /><br />Panelists including Drs. Farah Abbasi, Atasha Jordan, and Alan Fung discussed initiatives like the Muslim Mental Health Conference and the Christian Mental Health Initiative. These programs aim to integrate mental health awareness into faith-based settings, teaching leaders to recognize mental health issues while leveraging the supportive role of religious communities.<br /><br />The presentations emphasized the bi-directional benefits of this collaboration, advocating for culturally and religiously sensitive mental health care. Additionally, the seminar explored future avenues for education and training, underscoring the critical role of interprofessional dialogues between psychiatrists and faith leaders to improve patient care across diverse cultural and religious landscapes.

Keywords

Mary Lynn Dell

Child and Adolescent Psychiatry

University of Virginia

psychiatry and religious institutions

faith communities

COVID-19 pandemic

workforce shortages

APA Mental Health and Faith Community Partnership

Mental Health Guide

Muslim Mental Health Conference

Christian Mental Health Initiative

culturally sensitive care

interprofessional dialogues

mental health awareness