18th national meet on psychosocial rehab slated

The World Association for Psychosocial Rehabilitation (WAPR) will be holding its 18th National Conference on Psychosocial Rehabilitation on Nov. 28-29 at the Social Hall (8th floor) of UP-PGH on Taft Avenue, Ermita, Manila.

Sen. Risa Hontiveros will be the keynote speaker.

Working around the theme “Mental Health and Substance Abuse,” the conference will endeavor to stimulate discussion on the issues and challenges in managing the current substance abuse problem from a mental health perspective.

The thematic focus will be on generating appropriate psychosocial interventions particularly on prevention and aftercare, crisis intervention, dealing with the non-addicted user and community-based treatment modalities.

The registration fee for the two-day conference is P3,000 per participant which includes lunch and snacks for both days.

WAPR-Philippines is one of the 80 active affiliate members of the World Association for Psychosocial Rehabilitation (WAPR), a global organization founded in 1989.

It is composed of psychiatrists, psychologists and other mental health professionals, civic and business leaders, providers and users of mental health services. Its general objective is the improvement of the quality of life of families and patients who have suf- fered from mental health and psychosocial problems. WAPR has been actively involved in the last decade in addressing the needs for psychosocial intervention programs for the evolving targets for its services. These include those who have undergone extreme life experiences due to disasters, violence and terrorism at individual and community levels and those threatened by challenges arising from migration and overseas employment.