MPH student Keeley Ffrench on social prescribing to improve the health impacts caused by loneliness and isolation

UW School of Public Health

For her practicum, Keeley Ffrench, a Master of Public Health student in Global Health at the University of Washington School of Public Health, worked with the Vancouver Island Social Prescribing Community of Practice. Their goals were to scale up a social prescribing pilot project using evidence-based interventions implemented elsewhere in Canada through outreach, promotion and education. 

Introducing the 2023-24 Global Mental Health Speakers Series

The 2023-24 Global Mental Health Speakers series is a collaboration between the UW Consortium for Global Mental Health and the Population Health Initiative. Each event is followed by a 30 minute informal reception to build community and connection among the people gathered. The series brings together thought leaders from across UW, joined by some local and international experts to present and discuss topics of central or emerging concern in global mental health.   

DGH Professors Receive Grant to Research Text Messaging and Maternal Mental Health

A recently-awarded grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) will allow Keshet Ronen, clinical assistant professor of Global Health, to develop natural language processing tools to use SMS text messaging to monitor and support maternal mental health in Kenya.

The grant, titled “Leveraging interactive SMS messaging to monitor and support maternal mental health in Kenya”, will fund Ronen’s research through May 2022 with a total award of $128,116. Ronen explained the purpose of this grant, as well as the public health impacts it can create.

Psychiatry Consultation Line Provides Mental Health Treatment Advice (Features Jürgen Unützer)

The Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences recently launched a new service to help prescribing providers in Washington — including providers in the UW Medicine Accountable Care Network — receive clinical advice regarding adult patients (18+) with mental health and/or substance use disorders.

Science In The City: MPH Student Discusses Refugee Mental Health

What does mental health look like for refugee populations, and how do the unique social conditions refugees face affect their mental health? Diem Nguyen, a DGH student pursuing her master’s degree in public health, explored this as part of a recent discussion at the Pacific Science Center titled Global Health: Facing the Future. 

ICRC Fellow Treating Mind and Body - Jennifer Velloza, UW Magnuson Scholar.

Jennifer Velloza spent a year crisscrossing the grass-covered plains and sloping hills of rural Swaziland, dividing her time among ten medical clinics in this small southern African country. Here, nearly one in four people have HIV — and that rate is even higher among women.

As a study manager for Doctors Without Borders, Velloza saw many pregnant and postpartum women struggle to get the HIV testing and treatment they needed, because they were also suffering from sexual trauma, depression or anxiety.

Opinion: It’s Time All Sectors of Society Address Mental Health

By Pamela Collins / The Huddle

We live in a developing country when it comes to mental health, one of the most neglected areas of health in the world. That’s the conclusion of a Lancet Commission on global mental health that I helped author. I’m one of 28 commissioners from around the world who wrote the report, declaring a crisis of inaction. Globally, our responses to mental health needs are woefully insufficient.

You can see this on our streets, too.  

World in Mental Health Crisis of 'Monumental Suffering', Say Experts

The Guardian

Every country in the world is facing and failing to tackle a mental health crisis, from epidemics of anxiety and depression to conditions caused by violence and trauma, according to a review by experts that estimates the rising cost will hit $16tn (£12tn) by 2030.

A team of 28 global experts* assembled by the Lancet medical journal says there is a “collective failure to respond to this global health crisis” which “results in monumental loss of human capabilities and avoidable suffering.” 

Dr. Pamela Collins Joins UW to Lead Global Mental Health

We are delighted to announce that Dr. Pamela Y. Collins will join the University of Washington as Director of Global Mental Health, a joint program that will be co-led by the Departments of Global Health and Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. Dr. Collins was selected for this important, new position after an international search that considered candidates from multiple continents. She will have a joint appointment as professor in the Departments of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences (primary) and Global Health (joint). 

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