Coronavirus Seminar ...

About this Seminar

This seminar explores population mental health in the context of COVID-19. We know that the pandemic is an extreme stressor, and has multiple characteristics that are toxic to mental health.

Note: This seminar was developed and recorded by BUSPH. The BUSPH Coronavirus Seminar Series addresses different aspects of the coronavirus pandemic, bringing together experts to discuss the causes and consequences of this global pandemic. The seminars aim to provide our community and the public with state-of-the-science information about the pandemic and its intersection with public health and keep us all connected to one another during this time.

NEPHTC is making this recording available to the public health workforce with CHES credits and a certificate of completion.

What you'll learn

At the end of the course, participants will be able to:

• Name 4 characteristics that make the COVID-19 pandemic toxic to mental health
• Describe 2 examples of negative mental health impact from past pandemics
• Describe 5 characteristics of a concerted mental health effort during and following the pandemic
• Name 5 empirically-supported elements that are help people adapt in ongoing threat situations

Moderator

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  Sandro Galea, MD, DrPH

  Dean and Robert A. Knox Professor
  Boston University School of Public Health

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Sandro Galea, a physician, epidemiologist, and author, is dean and Robert A. Knox Professor at Boston University School of Public Health. He previously held academic and leadership positions at Columbia University, the University of Michigan, and the New York Academy of Medicine. He has published extensively in the peer-reviewed literature, and is a regular contributor to a range of public media, about the social causes of health, mental health, and the consequences of trauma. He has been listed as one of the most widely cited scholars in the social sciences. He is chair of the board of the Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health and past president of the Society for Epidemiologic Research and of the Interdisciplinary Association for Population Health Science. He is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine. Galea has received several lifetime achievement awards. Galea holds a medical degree from the University of Toronto, graduate degrees from Harvard University and Columbia University, and an honorary doctorate from the University of Glasgow.

Subject Matter Experts

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  Karestan Koenen, PhD

  Professor of Psychiatric Epidemiology
  Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health

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Karestan C. Koenen, PhD aims to reduce the population burden of mental disorders through research, training, and advocacy. She is passionate about using science to overcome violence and trauma, which are major preventable causes of health problems globally.
Dr. Koenen’s research focus is three-fold. First, she studies why some people develop PTSD and related mental and physical health problems and why some people are resilient when exposed to similar traumatic events. Dr. Koenen is a co-principal investigator on the NIMH-funded AURORA study, led by Dr. Samuel McLean with Drs. Ronald Kessler and Kerry Ressler. Dr. Koenen also co-leads the PTSD working group of the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium, which aims to identify genetic variants that increase risk and resilience following trauma exposure. Second, she investigates how violence, trauma, and PTSD alter long-term physical health and accelerate aging. Much of this work is done in collaboration with the Nurses’ Health Study. Third, she aims to expand access to evidence-based mental health treatment for survivors of violence and trauma. To this end, she co-wrote the book, Treating Survivors of Childhood Abuse: Psychotherapy for the Interrupted Life with Drs. Marylene Cloitre and Lisa Cohen.
Dr. Koenen leads the NIMH-funded Training Program in Psychiatric Epidemiology and Biostatistics (T32) and the Interdisciplinary Concentration in Population Mental Health. She also advises masters and doctoral degree students in the Departments of Epidemiology and Social Behavioral Sciences. In addition, Dr. Koenen leads the Trauma Epidemiology and Population Mental Health Research Group for her students and post-doctoral fellows. The group is primarily a forum for trainees and junior investigators to present and receive feedback on work-in-progress, but also includes presentations on advanced research methodology and career development.
Dr. Koenen advocates for survivors of violence and trauma. In May 2011, Dr. Koenen testified before the House Foreign Affairs Full Committee about the epidemic of sexual violence and victim blaming culture of the Peace Corps. She has written for the Boston Globe, the Washington Post, the Huffington Post, and the Women’s Media Center’s Women Under Siege Project, which investigates how rape and other forms of sexualized violence are used as tools in conflict. Dr. Koenen also consulted on the documentary, It Happened Here, which examined the epidemic of sexual assault on university campuses. In addition, Dr. Koenen speaks to lay audiences about the latest scientific findings around violence and trauma.

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  Sarah Lowe, PhD

  Assistant Professor, Social and Behavioral Sciences
  Yale School of Public Health

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Sarah Lowe, Ph.D., is a licensed clinical psychologist and Assistant Professor in the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences at Yale School of Public Health. Her research focuses on the long-term mental health consequences of a range of potentially traumatic events, as well as the impact of such events on other domains of functioning, such as physical health, social relationships, and economic wellbeing. Her work explores the mechanisms leading from trauma exposure to symptoms, and the role of factors at various ecological levels—from genetics to neighborhoods—in shaping risk and resilience. She uses a range of methodologies to achieve her research aims, including structural equation modeling, latent growth curve analysis, geospatial modeling, and qualitative analysis, among others. Dr. Lowe received her Ph.D. from the University of Massachusetts Boston and completed a postdoctoral fellowship in the Psychiatric Epidemiology Training program at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. She previously held an appointment in the Department of Psychology at Montclair State University, where she played a key role in developing the department’s first doctoral program.

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  Patricia Watson, PhD

  Assistant Professor, Psychiatry
  Dartmouth Geisel School of Medicine

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Patricia Watson, PhD is a senior educational specialist for the National Center for PTSD and assistant professor at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, in the Department of Psychiatry. She is co-author of the Psychological First Aid (PFA) Field Guide and the Skills for Psychological Recovery (SPR) Manual, produced by the National Center for PTSD and the National Child Traumatic Stress Network. She is also a co-author of the Combat Operational Stress First Aid (COSFA) Field Guide, produced by the Department of Defense, the Defense Centers for Excellence, and the National Center for PTSD, and the Stress First Aid and Curbside Manner manuals for fire and rescue personnel, produced by the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation. She has additionally co-edited three books on disaster behavioral health interventions, numerous articles on resilience and early intervention, SAMHSA guidance documents, and articles and chapters on disaster mental health, resilience, combat and operational stress, and pandemic flu.

Registration

Select the Enroll Me button below to register for this webinar. If you have any trouble accessing the webinar, contact support@nephtc.org.

_{Acknowledgement: This project is/was supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) under grant number UB6HP31685 “Regional Public Health Training Center Program.” This information or content and conclusions are those of the author and should not be construed as the official position or policy of, nor should any endorsements be inferred by HRSA, HHS or the U.S. Government.}

_{* Yale School of Public Health, Office of Public Health Practice, a New England Public Health Training Center partner, is a designated provider of continuing education contact hours (CECH) in health education by the National Commission for Health Education Credentialing, Inc. All CHES credit inquiries are managed by YSPH}