Catalyze, inspire, innovate for mental health
March 25th, 2019
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In this issue:
  • Events
  • GMH@Harvard 2nd Annual Open Day
  • Events in the Community
  • Save the Date
  • Impact Story of the Week: Student Spotlight
Events
GlobalMentalHealth@Harvard 2nd Annual Open Day
Celebrating the diversity of global mental health activities in our community
Saturday April 13th 2019
8:30am-4:00pm
Sever Hall 113 | Harvard University
The 2nd Annual GMH@Harvard Open Day will include presentations from faculty, staff, students, more working in the field of global mental health. The event will also feature keynote speaker:  Patrick J. Kennedy ,  former Congressman (D-RI). Also look forward to breakfast, lunch, and ample time for networking opportunities included throughout the day.

Open Day agenda to be shared soon!

Students - interested in volunteering the day of? Email Juliana for more information.
Global Mental Health Events in the Community
Global Health Week - Annual Faculty Debate
Monday March 25th 2019 1:00pm - 2:00pm
Building 1, 1208
Debating faculty: Jackie Bhabha and Vikram Patel with Moderator: Lindsay Jaacks

HSPH GHP Brown Bag Seminar
Tuesday March 26th 2019, 11:30am - 12:30pm
Building 1, 1208
Presenter: Shekhar Saxena, Professor of the Practice of Global Mental Health, GHP

Saturday March 30, 2019, 9:30 am - 5:30 pm
Harvard Graduate School of Education
Askwith Auditorium (13 Appian Way, Cambridge MA)
“Let’s Talk! Promoting the Success and Wellbeing of Asian & Pacific Islander Students” is an annual, one-day, student-led conference at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. The conference explores how culture, identity, and shared histories affect the mental health of Asian & Pacific Islander (API) youth and students, as well as how students, parents, educators, and practitioners can come together to support and promote greater wellbeing. The day includes API “life stories”, keynote addresses, 16 breakout sessions, and a mental health professionals panel. All from within and outside of Harvard are welcome to attend (FREE for students) . REGISTER TODAY at http://www.talkhgse.org/ . For questions, contact letstalkconference@gmail.com

Friday April 5th - Sunday April 7th 2019
Harvard University 1350 Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge, MA 02138
The 12th annual Arab Conference at Harvard is the largest conference in North America focused on the Middle East and North Africa. This year's Healthcare Track will explore what the future of healthcare looks like in the region. Topics include:
  • Removing stigma around mental illness
  • Safeguarding healthcare in conflict zones
  • Improving access through digital health
Attendees will engage with these topics through interactive graffiti and comic book exhibits, workshops, panels, and fireside chats. Panels feature speakers like psychologist Brigitte Khoury and LGBTQ+ activist Hamed Sinno as well as representatives from humanitarian organizations like the ICRC, UNRWA, and SAMS.

April 5-6, 2019, Kresge G2
The Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and the Harvard Center on the Developing Child will be co-hosting a conference on Implementation Research and Practice for Early Childhood Development. This conference will bring together global experts, faculty, student, and others working in the field of early child development to discuss current evidence and best practices for effective interventions, pathways to scale, measurement of child development, and priorities in future implementation research, with a particular focus in low- and middle-income countries.

Monday April 8th - Tuesday April 9th
NIH Campus Natcher Conference Center, Bathesda, MD
The NIMH Center for Global Mental Health Research and Grand Challenges Canada will co-convene the 10th anniversary global mental health conference in 2019, bringing together researchers, innovators, and other stakeholders around the theme of Global Mental Health Research without Borders. The conference will showcase findings from cutting-edge science and identify opportunities for groundbreaking research to address the Grand Challenges In Global Mental Health. REGISTER HERE.

HMS Department of Global Health and Social Medicine Department Seminar
Wednesday April 24th 12:00-1:30pm
Presenter: Mary-Jo DelVecchio Good, PhD, Professor of Global Health and Social Medicine

Center on the Developing Child - Harvard University
June 4th 2019, 9:00am - 5:00pm Cambridge, MA
Decades of research have shown it is possible to improve outcomes for children and families facing adversity. However, on average, the impacts of early childhood programs are modest, and they have not improved over time. So, how can we build better programs that achieve greater outcomes for more young children and families? Do you want to build stronger programs & achieve better outcomes? Attend our Science-Based Innovation Training! We go beyond asking whether a program works, & ask: What about the program works? How does it make a difference? Who benefits most? Join us for this one-day training to help programs increase impact for children and families.
Save the Date
More information to come for the following GMH related events in the community:
Department Seminar
Wednesday April 10th 12:00-1:30pm: Presenter: Melino Ndayizigiye, MD, MMsC-GHD , Partners In Health in Lesotho 
Global Mental Health Impact Story of the Week
Submit an "Impact Story of the Week" here!
GMH@Harvard Question: Could you describe to us a little about your research? 
Dani Pool Answer: My work overall addresses the mental health of forcibly displaced persons. In a recently conducted study among Syrian refugees in Greece, we found a high prevalence of major depressive disorder (43%). Despite the urgency of mental health surveillance and treatment in humanitarian emergencies, there has been little evaluation of instruments that keep response burden to a minimum. We aimed to evaluate a sequential screening process for the detection of major depressive disorder that improves the efficiency of screening-confirmation procedures using the two-item and eight-item Patient Health Questionnaires (PHQ-2 and PHQ-8, respectively) in a refugee population. We found that, using a cut-off score of ≥2, the sequential screening process is 90% sensitive using the PHQ-8 classification as the reference standard with a 100% negative percent agreement, meaning there were no false negative classifications. The sequential screening process eliminated the completion of the full PHQ-8 instrument for 34 respondents (25%). I recently presented these findings at the 10th Consortium of Universities for Global Health, and am engaging in discussions about next steps with implementing stakeholders. 
Q: What are the biggest lessons learned or takeaways from this experience/work? 
A: The greatest lesson I learned from this study is the importance of in-transit stressors on forced migrant health. Much of the existing research on the mental health of displaced populations focuses on pre-migration trauma-related stressors, with some literature examining post-migration stressors. However, time in-transit will only increase as more people are forced to migrate due to the changing nature of conflict and compounding effects of climate change. This period of time represents both a critical exposure, as well as an opportunity for intervention.
Q: What advice would you give to someone looking to become involved in this? 
A: There are many opportunities to get involved in this research! Most importantly, I advice everyone interested in studying health during displacement to stay up-to-date on the policies, recommendations, and challenges relevant to forced migration. Specifically, aligning your research agenda with the needs of implementing partners, including governments, intergovernmental agencies, and non-governmental agencies, ensures that any evidence generated can inform decision-making. 
Q: Was there a moment/experience in your work that stands out to you?
A: There were many moments that stand out over the course of listening to peoples' stories while collecting data, but those stories aren't mine to tell. The most memorable moment of my experience as a researcher was when I ran the code showing evidence of an increase in depression associated with increased time spent in the refugee camp. This finding contradicted my assumptions about what life might be like during the asylum process - I had wrongfully assumed that having fled Syria, people would become increasingly better off. Instead, the data suggest that mental health, or at least depressive symptoms, are exacerbated by lengthy periods of time spent in camp settings. While this finding should be evaluated in other settings and over time, the possible adverse impact of increased time in a camp and mental health necessitates urgent consideration by humanitarian actors. 
Thank you Dani for being GMH@Harvard's first
Impact Story of the Week: Student Spotlight!
Do you have something to share with the Global Mental Health community?
Email Juliana Lynn Restivo at GMH_Admin@hms.harvard.edu and we will include it in our next
Global Mental Health @ Harvard Newsletter!
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