Conference Outline

“Community and Global Health”
An IAPOP (International Association of Process-oriented Psychology) and PWI (Process Work Institute of Portland) regional and international conference for persons interested in and/or affected by global health issues, their family and community and those that provide and structure care.

Purpose:

1. To build relationship and networks, help build trust and understanding of each other and increase collaboration. Help bridge professional barriers and reduce biases.
2. To increase understanding of the biological, psychological, social, spiritual or indigenous features of global health.
3. Offer information, services and resources for addressing individual and community health problems.
4. To engage the larger community in identifying barriers to global health and factors that prevent effective diagnosis, treatment, and management of illnesses on an individual and community level.
5. To develop community-based strategies for action-oriented research, advocacy, service programs, and policies that will improve treatment and care for individuals and whole communities.

Target audience: persons concerned about global health; service providers; researchers interested in developing and testing interventions to improve treatment and reduce health disparity; policy makers and health insurance administrators interested in improving global health; health advocates and facilitators.

Target Date for Conference: February 25-27, 2010

Issues to be addressed:

Health leadership and partnership:

* Self-efficacy, self-determination and empowerment as keys to    recovery
* Self-management, social causation, and complementary medicine
* Consumer - peer/family - professional team leadership models
* Communication between consumers, family members, health care providers and   policy makers
* The power of beliefs and expectations
* Deep democracy and open forums
* Other?

Health disparity and diversity

* Cultural attitudes and values related to global health (importance of health for individuals and for the community)
* Medical pluralism: a new treatment philosophy
* The impact of inequality
* Psychosocial risk factors and chronic stress
* Social hierarchy, marginalization and rank
* Deep democracy and earth based powers

Multidisciplinary and multilevel approaches to individual health and treatment

* Collaboration between allopathic and “complementary/integrative” medicine
* Mind and body and the body’s dream
* Psychology and self-healing capacity
* Bio-psycho-social health
* Process Mind and earth based powers

Other

* Health care needs, services and policies
* Resources for individuals and families
* Barriers to effective treatment and care
* Building effective partnerships in care for families, providers and policy makers
* The role of expressive arts in health