Substance Abuse meetings & conferences

International Street Medicine Symposium IX

October 24-26, 2013 Boston, Massachusetts

The Street Medicine Institute is excited to announce the 9th annual International Street Medicine Symposium, to be held in historic Boston, Massachusetts on October 24-26, 2013, with a special pre-symposium “Street Medicine 101” workshop on October 23rd for interested participants. The Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program, widely regarded as one of the world’s largest and most effective homeless health care programs, has generously agreed to serve as a local sponsoring organization.

Learning Activities

The International Street Medicine Symposium is the world’s premiere educational event dedicated to the health care of unsheltered or “rough-sleeping” homeless populations. As always, the Symposium will offer a slate of homeless health care experts from around the globe presenting clinical topics, innovations, research outcomes, and best practices relevant to Street Medicine. The popular format mix of large-group lectures, small-group workshops, and poster presentations will be back again after positive reviews from last year’s Symposium. Additionally, there will be ample exposure to the talented clinicians and administrative staff of the Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program with scheduled site visits to the program’s renowned clinical facilities, including the Barbara McInnis House medical respite program. We hope to offer CME credits for eligible clinicians again this year.

Host City Spotlight

Street Medicine clinicians and administrators from around the world have long regarded the Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program as a leader of the Street Medicine movement; many of the field’s most important research outcomes and clinical innovations have come from the talented clinicians and staff at BHCHP. The program’s extensive network of clinical services across the spectrum of homelessness and seamless integration into Boston’s world-class academic mental centers and health sciences educational institutions stands as an international model for comprehensive, continuous, and high-quality health care programming for persons experiencing homelessness.

In addition to its status as a homeless health care hub, Boston was chosen to host this year’s Symposium for its unrivaled combination of metropolitan beauty, history, international accessibility, and diversity. And there is no better time to visit Boston than late October, when the New England fall foliage season is at its spectacular peak!

Reconnect and Re-energize

As consistently reported by past participants, one of the most valuable experiences of the Symposium is the opportunity to interact with Street Medicine colleagues from across the country and around the world. Again this year, program activities will incorporate time to reconnect with old friends, make new contacts, and share stories of the triumphs and challenges of this important work. Participants will be inspired and re-energized as they renew a common commitment to improving the lives of their brothers and sisters living on the streets.

25th Annual Psychiatric Pharmacotherapy Update

October 24 & 25, 2013 Austin, Texas

The University of Texas at Austin College of Pharmacy is proud to be hosting the 25th Annual Psychiatric Pharmacotherapy Update, October 24 & 25, 2013 in Austin, Texas.  This educational conference is presented by the College of Pharmacy's Continuing Pharmacy Education department and Psychiatric Pharmacy Program to meet the educational needs of practitioners who provide care to patients with mental health disorders.

Addressing Psychiatric Pharmacotherapy Topics Important for Today's Practice

This conference's goal is improve the quality of care delivered to people with mental health problems by providing timely and clinically useful information for the practicing clinician. Conference speakers focus on the practical application of neuroscience principles and evidence-based approaches to the treatment of serious and persistent major psychiatric and neurologic disorders, including depression, schizophrenia, bipolar, and dementias. Participants are provided with treatment advances in the psychiatric pharmacotherapy of children, traumatic brain injury, substance abuse, and an update on new psychotherapeutic uses of existing agents and new psychotropic agents that will impact your practice in the next year.

Inter-Professional

• Pharmacists

• Psychiatrists

• Physicians

• Nurses

• Psychologists

• Social Workers & Counselors

Who Should Attend

Pharmacists, psychiatrists, physicians, nurses, psychologists and social workers who specialize in or have an interest in neuropsychiatric disorders and wish to enhance their awareness and knowledge of the most recent advances impacting contemporary practice. 

Second International Youth Mental Health Conference

The Second International Youth Mental Health Conference will be held at Brighton Dome, Brighton, UK, between September 30 and October 2, 2013.

Adolescence and early adulthood is a critical time for personal development. The major threat to this comes from mental ill health with 75% of mental and substance use disorders emerging by age 25. Latest research reveals the complex interplay of genes, environment, psychological and social factors underpinning the development of these conditions in young people. These conditions can have a devastating impact on young people’s potential to establish their own independence and goals. Yet most of these conditions are very treatable and, if caught early, most people will make a good recovery. Early access and engagement is crucial but traditional health services are not youth friendly. Major gaps exist between adolescent and adult services – just at the stage when early intervention could be most effective.

New models are emerging of youth mental health services that embrace therapeutic optimism and incorporate the principals of prevention, early intervention, and recovery. They place young people and their families at the centre of decisions about service and policy development. Youth-friendly accessibility, engagement, and age-appropriate interventions are key to their success.

‘Young people at the forefront of reshaping services’ is a conference that aims to improve our understanding of youth mental heath, identify gaps in service provision, promote more effective interventions and models of care. This conference will celebrate the vital contribution that young people and their families can make to this field.

Conference themes

• Young people technology and their wellbeing

• Youth participation and active engagement in programs and research

• Service reform and innovation

• Role of families and carers

• Innovations in treatment and interventions

Contacts and links

International Association for Youth Mental Health
Web: http://www.iaymh.org/

Kerryn Pennell
IAYMH Chairperson – Conference Organising Committee
Email: pennell@unimelb.edu.au

Complexity: Researching Alcohol and Other Drugs in a Multiple World

21-23 August 2013 Aarhus, Denmark

The last decade has seen the idea of complexity gain force in social science and epidemiological research. As social problems of all kinds prove less amenable to change than is sometimes suggested by the reductionist demands of orthodox positivist approaches, theory and method have turned to ways of articulating the elusive, uncertain and complex.

For some, such as the science and technology studies scholars Annemarie Mol and John Law (2002), complexity means multiplicity rather than unity, realities rather than reality, distinct but overlapping worlds, logics and orders. Implicated, too, are questions about the relation between order and chaos, and the validity of binaries of any kind, including that of simplicity and complexity itself.

This conference offers a forum in which the issues and dilemmas of complexity in alcohol and other drug research can be explored. It welcomes research based on quantitative and qualitative methods, and encourages innovative use of methods, concepts and theoretical approaches. Following the conference, Contemporary Drug Problems, an interdisciplinary quarterly and one of the driving forces behind the conference, will publish a special issue featuring selected papers from the conference.

Possible sub-themes

Changing meanings, definitions and measures of addiction

The relationships between alcohol and other drug use and health and social phenomena

Emerging drugs and conceptions of their effects

Public opinion on illicit drug use, drinking or smoking

Drug policy and the forces and assumptions that shape it

Drugs and addiction in film, news and other media

Models and practices of treatment and recovery

Pedagogies of addiction and drugs in universities and schools

Drugs in urban cultures and spaces

Subjects and practices of harm reduction

Global politics of drug production and consumption

Complexity and method in the addiction and drug use field

Validity and reliability in quantitative drug research

Quantitative and qualitative theories of complexity and their uses in drug research.

Questions

All queries should be directed to:

Nicola Thomson
Editorial Assistant, Contemporary Drug Problems
at CDP@curtin.edu.au

Association for the Advancement of Automotive Medicine 57th Annual Conference

September 22-25, 2013 Quebec City, Canada

AAAM's conference is regarded as the most authoritative forum on current knowledge in traffic injury control and presents active and published research in multidisciplinary appraoches to automotive-related trauma in areas such as epidemiology, biomechanics, treatment and management, transport psychology, accidentology, and human factors.

Who attends?

AAAM's conference is attended by 150 experts, including emergency physicians or nurses orthopedic surgeons, trauma surgeons, neurosurgeons, radiologists, physiatrists, urologists, emergency medical providers, epidemiologists, biomechanics or vehicle design engineers, automotive engineers, crash investigators, health policy specialists, internists, psychologists, sociologists, or other human factor specialists, accident reconstructionists, or road safety specialists.

Meeting highlights

The meeting will begin with the 4th Annual Student Symposium Sunday, September 22, in which student researchers present their works in progress.

First International Conference on Prevention of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder

A conference about preventing harm from alcohol use during pregnancy

September 23 - 25, 2013 Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

This is the first international conference to address the primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention of FASD. Plenary sessions will promote discussion and reflection on promising and innovative approaches for prevention of FASD, such as alcohol policies and efforts to address the social determinants of health. Sessions will identify barriers to FASD prevention and possible solutions for overcoming these obstacles. The conference will serve as an international knowledge exchange and networking forum for those interested in FASD prevention, bringing together key experts from around the globe.

This conference will be of interest to:

•     Government officials
•     Policymakers in health, education, justice, and social services
•     Researchers in the fields of FASD, alcohol and addictions, social determinants of health, social sciences, and social marketing
•     Service providers and healthcare professionals
•     Those affected by FASD, their families, and other caregivers
•     Students
•     Teachers and educators

Participants attending this conference are also welcome to register for our Consensus Development Conference on Legal Issues of FASD, which will take place in Edmonton, on September 18 - 20, 2013.

International Nurses Society on Addictions 37th Annual Educational Conference

October 9‐12, 2013, Washington DC

Riding the Wave of Change in Health Care: Interprofessional Collaboration and Caring for Substance Use Disorders

This conference focuses on the requisite knowledge, skills and abilities for any nurse who cares for persons with substance use, abuse and addictions. Providing patient centered care through prevention, screening, treatment and recovery services is best brought about when interdisciplinary teams work together to accomplish effective and successful patient care outcomes. Interdisciplinary collaboration utilizes the Institute Of Medicine’s core competencies of evidence-based practice, informatics, and quality assurance to promote positive lifestyle changes. Attendees will increase their skills and knowledge base for collaborative practice with healthcare colleagues to further patient centered care for those with substance use disorders.

This year’s conference will boast over 200 attendees coming together to broaden their perspectives and learn from each other.

Who should attend?

•Nurses Who Specialize in the Prevention and Treatment of Addictions
•Nurses Who Practice in Other Specialty Areas
•Allied Health Care Professionals Who Specialize in Addictions
•Employee Assistance Professionals
•Credentialed Addictions Counselors and Prevention Specialists
•Community Agency Workers
•Private Practice Therapists 

National Conference on Addiction Disorders (NCAD) and the Behavioral Healthcare Leadership Summit

Behavioral Healthcare Leadership Summit – September 21- 23, 2013

National Conference on Addiction Disorders – September 21 – 25, 2013

Anaheim, California

NAADAC, the Association for Addiction Professionals 2013 Conference 

NAADAC has scheduled its 2013 conference for October 11 - 14 in Atlanta, Georgia.

2013 National School-Based Health Care Convention

The 2013 National School-Based Health Care Convention will be held at the Renaissance Hotel in Washington DC June 23 – 26, 2013.

The 2013 Convention program is organized into eight workshop tracks, each to include a series of concurrent sessions. The theme Redefining Health for Kids and Teens will be disbursed throughout the convention plenary sessions and tracks.