May 12, 2022 11:45amCT
Evanston Township High School is sponsoring two virtual Family Action Network events on May 19 and May 20. Both events are free and open to the public, suitable for ages 12 and up. Registration is required.
Thomas Insel, MD and David Schreiber, MD
(image from www.familyactionnetwork.net)
Healing: Our Path from Mental Illness to Mental Health,” a conversation between Thomas Insel, MD, and David Schreiber,, will be held on Thursday, May 19, beginning at 7:00pm via Zoom. Registration is required.
As director of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), Thomas Insel, MD was giving a presentation when the father of a boy with schizophrenia yelled from the back of the room, “Our house is on fire and you’re telling me about the chemistry of the paint! What are you doing to put out the fire?” Dr. Insel knew in his heart that the answer was: not nearly enough. The gargantuan American mental health industry was not healing millions who were desperately in need. He left his position atop the mental health research world to investigate all that was broken—and what a better path to mental health might look like.
In the United States, we have treatments that work, but our system fails at every stage to deliver care well. Even before COVID, mental illness was claiming a life every eleven minutes by suicide. Quality of care varies widely, and much of the field lacks accountability. We focus on drug therapies for symptom reduction rather than on plans for long-term recovery. Care is often unaffordable and unavailable, particularly for those who need it most and are homeless or incarcerated. But Dr. Insel also found that we have approaches that work, both in the U.S. and globally. Mental illnesses are medical problems, but the cures for the crisis are not just medical, but social. This path to healing, built upon what he calls the three Ps (people, place, and purpose), is more straightforward than we might imagine.
A psychiatrist and neuroscientist, Dr. Insel has been a national leader in mental health research, policy, and technology. He is the author of the 2022 book Healing: Our Path from Mental Illness to Mental Health. From 2002-2015, he served as Director of the NIMH. More recently, he led the Mental Health Team at Verily (formerly Google Life Sciences); co-founded Mindstrong Health, a digital mental health company for people with serious mental illness; and launched Humanest Care, a therapeutic online community for recovery.
Dr. Insel will be in conversation with David Schreiber, MD, a child, adolescent, and adult psychiatrist and CEO and co-founder of Compass Health Center (CHC) and Compass Virtual. CHC is the largest provider of intensive non-hospital based psychiatric care in Illinois. CHC’s mission is to create safe and caring environments that improve access to treatment, keep people at home and out of higher level of care (e.g., emergency department and inpatient or residential facilities), and attain better outcomes.
The event will be recorded and available later on FAN’s website and YouTube channel. For more information, visit www.familyactionnetwork.net.
Thomas Insel, MD, Rhonda Robinson Beale, MD, and David Schreiber, MD
(image from www.familyactionnetwork.net)
“GRAND ROUNDS: Reinventing the Mental Health System: Where to Repair and Where to Build,” a panel discussion with Thomas Insel, MD, Rhonda Robinson Beale, MD, and David Schreiber, MD, will be held on Friday, May 20, beginning at 7:00pm via Zoom. Registration is required.
In this 60-minute, 1-credit CEU virtual event, participants will learn about gains being made through medical and technological advances and the ways our mental health care system can improve the delivery of care. Expert perspectives will focus on where we have advanced and fallen short when it comes to access, parity, outcomes, partnerships, and innovation. Panelists will discuss several topics, including the increase in suicide rates; access; outcomes; the impact of the pandemic on mental health; and the provider, payor, government, and patient partnership. Participants will discuss the challenges facing the mental health care system but also how the system can work together to reinvent itself. The panelists will lend their expertise and opinion on access to quality behavioral health care—where the industry has advanced and where it has fallen short. Attendees walk away knowing the challenges and how we can overcome them, and how government, value-based care, providers, payers, and technology all fit together to create a partnership that will help those in need live healthier lives.
PANELISTS:
A psychiatrist and neuroscientist, Thomas Insel, MD is the author of the 2022 book Healing: Our Path from Mental Illness to Mental Health. From 2002-2015, he served as Director of the NIMH. More recently, he led the Mental Health Team at Verily (formerly Google Life Sciences); co-founded Mindstrong Health, a digital mental health company for people with serious mental illness; and launched Humanest Care, a therapeutic online community for recovery.
Rhonda Robinson Beale, MD is a seasoned healthcare executive with over 30 years of experience in health care systems, managed care, and quality improvement in behavioral health and medical care. She is the Deputy Chief Medical Officer for Mental Health Services within UnitedHealth Group.
David Schreiber, MD, is a child, adolescent, and adult psychiatrist and the CEO and co-founder of Compass Health Center (CHC) and Compass Virtual. CHC is the largest provider of intensive non-hospital based psychiatric care in Illinois. CHC’s mission is to create safe and caring environments that improve access to treatment, keep people at home and out of higher level of care (e.g., emergency department and inpatient or residential facilities), and attain better outcomes.
The event will be recorded and available later on FAN’s website and YouTube channel. For more information, visit www.familyactionnetwork.net.
