PSR18658 - SMART 2018 - Summit for Mood and Anxiety Resources and Treatment in the community
Program Description
Summit for Mood and Anxiety Resources and Transitions in the Community (SMART)
A conference is dedicated to the introduction of integrated care pathways for the management of major depression. Main goals are to facilitate community capacity building in relation to management and treatment of depressive disorders through both clinical and research pathways.
Community capacity relates to the assets that already exist within a community, where community building is understood as a process where communities in collaboration with major institutions can build on their own strengths, where institutions can provide both educational and instrumental support, and communities may collaborate with institutions to make services applicable to particular populations.
The initial inspiration for the development of this summit came from the Integrated Care Pathways for Unipolar Depression; a strategy developed by CAMH interdisciplinary team to improve access and treatment efficacy for patients with major depressive disorder using a comprehensive, evidence-based, multileveled, and personalized approach.
SMART Summit is an annual event and a platform specifically designed for health professionals, especially those working in primary care, academics, and policy makers with the aim to build community capacity around depression and anxiety disorders. Prevalence rates of depression and anxiety continues to soar, signaling a public health crisis in the face of even more limited resources, resulting in even more fractured care for vulnerable populations. Therefore, it is vitally important to provide care which is timely, personalized, and comprehensive to prevent further complications and to promote overall population health.
SMART Summit has an ambitious goal to bring together a variety of experts across different fields and expertise to develop and support an integrated and comprehensive care for those diagnosed with depression and anxiety, where care is both sustainable and amendable to fit growing and changing needs of complex population living at the community.