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.

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