IACAPAP 2020 World Congress Goes Virtual with Over 300 Speakers Sharing on Research Findings and Clinical Observations for Better Child & Adolescent Mental Health

SINGAPORE – Media OutReach – 10 November 2020 – For the first time in its 83-year history, the International Association for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Allied Professions (IACAPAP) is holding its biennial congress on the virtual platform.

Originally slated to take place in Singapore, the 24^th edition of the child and adolescent mental health association’s congress will now take place virtually from 2 — 4 December 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Over 300 industry and academic experts will be making more than 200 presentations stretching over 180 hours on the latest research and trends in child and adolescent psychiatry.

“We have themed the congress “Starting from the beginning — laying the foundation for lifelong mental health” to reflect the importance of early intervention in the child and adolescent stages for better mental health over a lifetime,” says Adj Associate Professor Say How ONG, Chairman of the IACAPAP 2020 World Congress, and Chief & Senior Consultant, Department of Developmental Psychiatry at the Institute of Mental Health.

“Children are the pillars of our future and deserve our attention and investments so that they can lead healthy lives and contribute meaningfully. Given that the onset of mental health conditions commonly occurs in adolescence; and that adverse childhood experiences add to the risks of our children developing mental disorders later in their lives, it is important that we identify them and intervene as early as possible. This will help them set a foundation from which they develop skills to handle the mental health problems or reduce the debilitating effects of mental disorders that they may encounter later in life,” he adds.

Highlights of IACAPAP 2020

The Congress’ Keynote and Plenaries will discuss ways to improve the practice of child and adolescent mental health.

Delivering the Keynote is Professor Michael Meaney, known for his extensive research into the interactions of genes and environment on brain function. He is director of the Translational Neuroscience programme at the Singapore Institute for Clinical Sciences, Professor of Paediatrics at the National University of Singapore, and a James McGill Professor of Medicine at McGill University. In his Keynote titled “Developmental Processes & Epigenetics”, he will speak of ways in which we can integrate our current knowledge in biological sciences to identify those children exposed to environmental conditions that predict a risk, or susceptibility to mental disorders.

Plenary speaker Dr James Hudziak will speak on “Building healthy brains through promoting healthy families”, with focus on the neuroscience of how stress impacts on the structure of the developing brain and how helping the family can improve the environment and children’s ability to deal with stress in their lives and help build a healthy brain. Dr Hudziak is known internationally for his work in the psychiatric genetics and developmental neuroimaging of child and adolescent behaviour, and is the creator of the Vermont Family Based Approach.

Most psychiatry training in Asian countries are predominantly western in orientation. Professor Michael Hong, a pioneer of child psychiatry in South Korea, will discuss the clinical implications of these cultural differences in his Plenary “Clinical implications of the East-West cultural differences in Asian countries; does it really matter?”. He will also explain why the mandatory inclusion of traditional culture and value orientation in the training curriculum, and concerted efforts to teach an integrated-balanced Eastern and Western psychology are recommended.

“Emotionally dysregulated children: who are they, what happens to them, and what can we do about them” is a Plenary topic by Dr Gabrielle Carlson, who has written over 275 papers and chapters on phenomenology and treatment of child and adolescent depression and bipolar disorder. Her talk will address current treatment approaches and outcomes for children with these disorders.

Professor Valsamma Eapen is Chair of Infant, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at UNSW Sydney, Head of the Academic Unit of Child Psychiatry South West Sydney (AUCS), and Director of BestSTART South West Sydney child health unit. Her Plenary “Early life determinants of health” discusses the importance of investment in early life determinants of health in order to break the cycle of long-term and intergenerational disadvantage. With a special focus on neurodevelopmental and behavioural disorders of childhood, both the biological and social determinants and their interaction in a cumulative fashion will be discussed as the targets for a biopsychosocial transformation of the health system.

Dr Daniel Fung, President of the IACAPAP and Chairman of Medical Board at the Institute of Mental Health will wrap up the Congress with the Gerald Caplan Lecture. His topic, “Starting small: developing child centric mental health policies” will provide insights on the multi-faceted considerations when developing children-centric mental health policies, with Singapore as an illustrated example.

IACAPAP CONGRESS 2020 — PROGRAMME

Day 1 — December 2, 2020 (Singapore Time GMT+8)

IACAPAP CONGRESS 2020 — PROGRAMME

Day 2 — December 3, 2020 (Singapore Time GMT+8)

IACAPAP CONGRESS 2020 — PROGRAMME

Day 3 — December 4, 2020 (Singapore Time GMT+8)

ABOUT THE ORGANISERS

The International Association for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Allied Professions’ (IACAPAP) mission is to advocate for the promotion of the mental health and development of children and adolescents through policy, practice and research. The IACAPAP also promotes the study, treatment, care and prevention of mental and emotional disorders and disabilities involving children, adolescents and their families with emphasis on collaboration among the professions of child and adolescent psychiatry, psychology, social work, paediatrics, public health, nursing, education, social sciences and other relevant disciplines. www.iacapap.org.

Social Media

Website: www.iacapap2020.org

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IACAPAP

Twitter: @IacapapE

The Institute of Mental Health (IMH) is the only tertiary psychiatric care institution in Singapore. From its sprawling 23-hectare campus, IMH offers a multidisciplinary and comprehensive range of psychiatric, rehabilitative and therapy services in hospital-based and community-based settings. The 2000-bedded hospital aims to meet the needs of three groups of patients — children and adolescents, adults and the elderly. Besides providing clinical services, IMH also leads in mental health research and training the next generation of mental health professionals in Singapore. www.imh.com.sg.

The Section of Child Psychiatry was formed under the Singapore College of Psychiatrists. The Section aims to promote mental health and develop better treatment and care of mental and emotional issues in children and adolescents. It has also been instrumental in the development of best practice guidelines for management and treatment of psychiatric illness. In 2014, the clinical practice guidelines on Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) was published by the Chapter of Psychiatrists/ Academy of Medicine and the Ministry of Health. It aims to help professionals understand the evidence-based treatments for ADHD that are available and to plan treatment for children and adolescents with ADHD. www.ams.edu.sg/colleges/psychiatrists/home.

ABOUT THE NEWSWIRE PARTNER

Media OutReach Newswire is the first global newswire founded in Asia Pacific headquartered in Hong Kong with offices in Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, Taiwan, Japan and with international reseller partnership in North America and Europe. Media OutReach Newswire is the only global newswire with its own distribution network across 24 countries across Asia Pacific region. The company is built on three pillars of core values: caring for our clients’ as performance is central to our own success; caring for our people drives us forward as a business; caring for our community allows us give back: https://www.media-outreach.com/