Bringing the START Model to Parliament
L-R: Andrea Caoili, Joan Beasley, and Karen Weigle snap a quick shot in front of Big Ben during their trip to London, UK.
Research Professor Joan B. Beasley, PhD, MEd, LMHC was invited to present the START model to the Parliament of the United Kingdom by Baroness Sheila Hollins, a respected member of the House of Lords and a member of the Joint Committee on the Draft Mental Health Bill. As a longtime advocate for community services for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and mental health needs (IDD-MH), Baroness Hollins has been familiar with Beasley's work on START (Systemic, Therapeutic, Assessment, Resources, and Treatment) for more than 30 years.
Joining Beasley on the trip were Karen Weigle, PhD, MA, and Andrea Caoili, MSW, LCSW, the associate director and director of research and quality assurance (respectively) for the National Center for START Services®. Beasley presented to both a committee in the House of Commons in the morning and a seminar at a lunch meeting in the House of Lords. This was followed by an afternoon roundtable discussion, where Beasley and her UNH colleagues were able to speak with professionals and people with lived experience of IDD-MH from across the UK.
Beasley, Weigle, and Caoili also presented the START model to the University College London Division of Psychiatry. Finally, the group also visited the University of Glasgow School of Health and Wellbeing.
As the Director of the National Research Consortium (NRC) on Mental Health in Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (MH-IDD), Beasley is also expanding collaboration with research partners in the UK and Canada.
RENEW in Dublin, Ireland
RENEW representatives Heidi Cloutier, MSW and Kathy Francoeur, MEd joined Adele Bauman from the Department of Health and Human Services and Nilufer Isvan from the Human Service Research Institute at the European Association for Research on Adolescence (EARA) Conference in Dublin, Ireland. EARA is a multidisciplinary European research organization established to understand adolescence as a life phase through scientific investigation and applied research.
The group's presentations were focused on highlighting the work that The Institute on Disability and the NH Department of Health and Human Services is doing in collaboration with community organizations to expand a continuum of treatments and supports in NH for youth with substance use challenges and their families.
NCSS Representatives Present to Child and Adolescent Psychiatrists in Toronto, Canada
National Center for START Services® (NCSS) Clinical Director Jill Hinton, PhD, and Chief Medical Advisor Jennifer McLaren, MD, presented at the Annual Meeting of the American and Canadian Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry in Toronto, Canada.
McLaren and Hinton presented sessions within the Clinical Perspectives track, “Successfully Navigating the Often-Uncharted Seas of the System of Care for Individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disorders: Strategies for Child and Adolescent Psychiatrists.” Dr. McLaren, section chair, presented on the NCSS Integrated Mental Health Treatment Guidelines for Prescribers and Hinton provided an overview of START crisis prevention and intervention services as an evidence-based model of support for people with IDD.
The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP) and Canadian Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (CACAP) Annual Meeting draws more than 4,000 child and adolescent psychiatrists and other allied professionals from all over the world, both in-person and virtually.
-
NCSS's Jill Hinton and Jennifer McLaren before their presentation at the 2022 AACAP/CACAP annual meeting.
