A Two-Day Conference organised by the Catherine McAuley School of Nursing and Midwifery & the School of Applied Social Studies University College Cork, in association with the Critical Voices Network Ireland.

Mental Health Press Release - Mental Health Conference Prog

The conference offers opportunities to consider:

Meanings of madness
Broadening understandings of expressions of madness
Creative approaches to engaging with and responding to madness

This conference, now in its fifth year, is unique as it is free for all participants and it involves people from diverse backgrounds (self-experience, survivors, professionals, academics, carers) presenting, discussing and debating critical and creative perspectives on and beyond the dominant bio-medical approach. The 2010 conference saw the launch of the Critical Voices Network Ireland (CVNI), a network of people interested in considering and developing responses to human distress, which are creative, enabling, respectful and firmly grounded in human rights. The conference will include an open forum to discuss the on-going work of the CVNI.
Confirmed Keynote Speakers (in alphabetical order): click on the speakers name to view the presentation.

Liz Brosnan has just completed her PhD through a Government of Ireland scholarship at the University of Limerick. Her research explored User Involvement in Irish Mental Health Services. Liz has both personal and professional experience of dealing with "madness".

Gail Hornstein, Professor of Psychology, Mount Holyoke College, Massachusetts, USA. Her research and writings – grounded in an understanding of the mind, based on lived experience – challenge fundamental assumptions about ‘mental illness’ and treatment.

Irene van de Giessen, Expert by Experience employed at the Admiraal de Ruyter Hospital, Vlissingen, the Netherlands and Owner of the Convalescent Talent Agency.

John Read, Professor of Clinical Psychology, University of Liverpool, UK. He has written extensively in the area of trauma and psychosis.

Doug Ross, artist, founding member of Renew. Personal experience of sustained recovery from addiction and psycho-spiritual distress.

Teresa Tuohy, Health Research Board funded PhD Candidate at Trinity College Dublin. Her research title is ‘Mothers’ Voices: A study of mothering with women experiencing mental health problems’. Teresa has many years’ experience working in mental health practice, education and recovery.

Concurrent Sessions: the conference also includes a series of workshops and oral presentations, related to the conference theme.

The Conference organisers are Harry Gijbels, Catherine McAuley School of Nursing & Midwifery, and Lydia Sapouna, School of Applied Social Studies, University College Cork, Ireland.

Chronic Disease Self-Management - A How to Workshop.

Masterclass on Chronic Disease Self-Management - A How to Workshop facilitated by Professor Kate Lorig of Stanford University

International expert on lay-led programmes.

Date; 7th November 2013 @15.30 - 17.00.

Venue; Room 2.25, Brookfield Health Sciences Complex, University College Cork.

Professor Kate Lorig

Kate Lorig is the Director of the Stanford Patient Education Research Center and Professor of Medicine in the Stanford School of Medicine. She has a bachelors degree in nursing from Boston University, and her masters and doctorate of public health (Dr.P.H.) in health education at the University of California, Berkeley. She came to Stanford in 1979 to develop and research an educational program that emphasized self-help skills for people with arthritis. This program became the Arthritis Self-Help Course and was the prototype for the Chronic Disease Self-Management Program, The Diabetes Self-Management Program, the Positive Self-Management Program for HIV/AIDS, the Cancer: Thriving and Surviving Program, the Building Better Caregiver's Program, Self-Management Program, and others. She has authored several books and many articles about arthritis, chronic disease in general, health education and behavioral science. She travels extensively at the invitation of organizations concerned with patient care and academic research.

Some additional highlights of Dr. Lorig’s work are:

Her community based self-management programs are being delivered through over 500 organizations worldwide including Arthritis Foundation in Ireland
Has worked as consultant and advisor on the roll out of her self-management programmes in the UK’s National Health Service and Expert Patient Programme
Using a public health approach, her peer led management of chronic illnesses are the core of her programmes
Extensive experience in randomized controlled trials
Self- management programmes are now available online.

Extensive publication record with over 10,000 citations