Stigma of mental illness and COVID-19 – Cultural perspectives

Webinar sponsored by the Special Interest Groups on Culture, Stigma, and Discrimination and Cultural Psychiatry and the COVID-19 Pandemic of the World Association of Cultural Psychiatry

You can watch the webinar now on: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xP6w9FlE_9w

Stigma of mental illness, a significant public health concern, has long been recognized as a major barrier to the successful treatment and recovery of persons living with mental disorders. Infectious diseases, including COVID-19, are also a crucial public health issue that can evoke fear in the general public leading to stigmatization of, and discrimination against, specific populations (e.g., quarantined people, front-line health workers, and persons living with mental disorders). Moreover, the COVID-19 pandemic can cause severe psychological distress and mental health problems, such as depression, anxiety, and posttraumatic stress disorder. Cultural contexts differ in the extent and specific characteristics of the stigma related to mental illness and COVID-19 and the strategies deployed to address them. Culturally congruent, effective interventions need to be implemented to reduce stigma related to these conditions in order to enhance public physical and mental health.

 In this webinar, which was held on 12/10.2021, we presented a synopsis of the relationship between culture and stigma associated with mental illness and COVID-19, and discuss a culturally informed framework for clinical practice, research and policy making.

Chairs:

Dr. Mao-Sheng Ran, MD, PhD, Chair, Culture, Stigma and Discrimination SIG, WACP

Dr. Hans Rohlof, MD, PhD, Chair, Cultural Psychiatry and the COVID-19 Pandemic SIG, WACP  

Prof. Roberto Lewis-Fernández, MD, President of WACP

Other members of the organisation: Prof. Jie Li, Dr. Joanna Zhyang, Dr. Tianming Zhang (张 天明) (China), Dr. Albert Persaud (UK). 

PROGRAM

8.00. Welcome.

Hans Rohlof, MD, PhD, Chair, Cultural Psychiatry and the COVID-19 Pandemic SIG, WACP 

Roberto Lewis-Fernández, MD, President of WACP

Moderator: Mao-Sheng Ran, MD, PhD, Chair, Culture, Stigma and Discrimination SIG, WACP

Presenters

1) 8.05 Dinesh Bhugra, MD

Emeritus Professor, Mental Health and Cultural Diversity at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN), King’s College London ,Past President, World Psychiatric Association

Global perspective on stigma and the pandemic, and effects on the minority groups in the UK

2) 8.20. Melanie Escaño

One of the founders of Filipino Migrants in Solidarity (FILMIS),Representative for Migrant Domestic Workers Network of the Dutch Federation of Labour Unions

Personal experiences with the pandemic and the social and psychological consequences

8.35. Questions and Answers

3) 8.45. Cécile Rousseau, MD

Professor, Division of Social and Cultural Psychiatry, McGill University, Montréal, Canada

Title: COVID related discrimination, cumulative stress and psychological distress in Canada

4) 9.00 Winnie W. S. Mak, PhD

Professor, Department of Psychology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong

Title : We are all interconnected: Tackling stigma of mental illness during COVID-19 pandemic

9.15. Questions and Answers

9.25 Conclusions. Mao-Sheng Ran, MD, PhD

Contact us:  

Roberto.Lewis@nyspi.columbia.edu, msran@hku.hk, hrohlof@gmail.com

Re-conceptualizing Culture and Context to meet the Needs of a Globalizing World

Two webinars, free of charge

Organized by the Local Organizing Committee of the 6^th World Congress of the World Association for Cultural Psychiatry in Rotterdam, the Netherlands

19 November 2021

During the past decades, there has been an increasing awareness of the role of culture and context in mental health service provision. With continued globalization, increased risk of global disasters, and structural inequalities, the next few decades will witness an ever-greater interest in cultural and structural factors that impact our patients’ mental health and social surrounding.  

In the run-up to the 6^th World Congress of Cultural Psychiatry on 14-17 September 2022, the WACP organizes two webinars, in which four experts in the fields of cultural psychiatry and anthropology will elaborate on the topic of the congress, by addressing the following questions:

1. What are, historically, the dominant approaches to conceptualize culture and context in theory and practice of cultural psychiatry?
2. What are the main critiques on our current approach to culturally competent case formulation (for instance using the outline of the cultural formulation)?
3. How can cultural case formulations be “recontextualized”, using a broader understanding of context that more rigorously takes into account the role of structural and systemic determinants of mental illness?
4. What are the main challenges in this process?

Webinar 1:

Friday, November 19^th 2021, 11 am – 12:15 pm CET

Presenters:

Mario Braakman, President-elect of the WACP and Professor of Transcultural Forensic Psychiatry, Tilburg University and Pro Persona, The Netherlands

Mihri Heval Özgen, Associate Professor, Leiden University Medical Centre and Parnassia Psychiatric Institute, The Netherlands

Registration: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_9t9ldkTKQPKEoU3UJ9ZVng

Webinar 2:

Friday, November 19^th 2021, 8 – 9:15 pm CET

Presenters:

Laurence Kirmayer, James McGill Professor and Director, Division of Social and Transcultural Psychiatry, McGill University, Canada

Mitchell Weiss, Professor Emeritus of Cultural Epidemiology, Swiss Tropical Institute, University of Basel, Switzerland 

Registration: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_DJpK3X1aSIKPVwiN4Ddx6g

The webinars will also feature short video messages by a number of WACP experts, reflecting on the theme of the upcoming congress in 2022 in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. The Webinars are 75 minutes each and offered to you for free by courtesy by the Dutch local organizing committee of the 6^th WACP World Congress and the Board of the WACP. Registration is required to participate