“For the community, With the Community: Fostering Collaborations in Mental Health"

The 2nd international conference on community mental health, Chitwan, Nepal

The 2nd International Conference on Community Mental Health: Chitwan, Nepal (May 1- 3, 2025)

“For the community, With the Community: Fostering Collaborations in Mental Health"

Global, national and local leaders in mental health convene at this conference to discuss policy, innovations, advancements, and equity in community mental health care. Please complete the registration form to attend the conference.

Patron:

Prof. Dr. Harish Neupane

Chairman, Chitwan Medical College

Advisory Committee:

1. Dr. Yadu Chandra Ghimire

Director, Epidemiology and Disease Control Division (EDCD), Ministry of Health and Population (MoHP)

2. Dr. Pomawati Thapa, MBBS, MS

NCD and Mental Health Section, EDCD, MoHP

Organizing Committee Chairs:

1. Prof. Dr. Chandra Prakash Sedai

(Chitwan Medical College)

2.     Prof. Dr. Suraj Thapa

(University of Oslo, Norway)

3.     Dr. Shreedhar Paudel

(Massachusetts General Hospital & Harvard Medical School)

Organizing Secretary:

1.     Dr. Khagendra Kafle

(NIOMH and CMC)

Organizing Committee Members:

1. Dr. Pashupati Mahat (CMC-Nepal)

2.     Dr. Kamal Gautam (TPO Nepal)

3.     Dr. Sabitri Sapkota (Possible)

4.     Ms. Sunita Mainali, (WOREC, Nepal)

5.     Dr. Sanjay Yadav (NIOMH)

6.     Dr. Rishav Koirala (BANC Nepal)

7.     Dr. Pradish Poudel (Nepal Health Corps)

8.     Mr. Pramesh Man Pradhan (Nepal Association of Clinical Psychologists)

9.     Dr. Sunil Regmi

10.  Dr. Ranjan Thapa

Scientific Committee Chairs:

1. Dr. Shailendra Raj Adhikary

2.     Dr. Vinita Sharma

3.     Dr. Chhori Laxmi Maharjan

4. Dr. Madhur Basnet

Scientific Committee Members:

5. Dr. Priya Vaidya (Nepalese American Psychiatry Association)

6.     Dr. Prabhat Sapkota

7.     Ms. Anuradha Acharya

8.     Mr. Kapil Sharma

9.     Dr. Saraswati Dhungana

10.  Dr. Jayanti Dhungana

Coordinators:

1. Dr. Sudhamsu Gautam

2.     Dr. Aayush Bist,

3.     Mr. Diwakar Joshi

4.     Dr. Rabin Basnet

5.     Mr. Bikash Silwal

6.     Ms. Devaki Sharma

7.     Dr. Deepika Lamichhane

8.     Mr. Prayas Gautam

9. Ms. Sumitra Poudel

International Organizers: 

1. Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), USA

2. University of Oslo, Norway

Collaboration Partners:

1. Ministry of Health and Population, Department of Health Services

2. Epidemiology and Diseases Control Division (EDCD), Nepal

3. America Nepal Medical Foundation

Host Organizer:

Chitwan Medical College (CMC), Chitwan, Nepal

Domestic Organizing Partners: 

1. Nepal Institute of Mental Health (NIOMH) [Domestic Organizing Partner]

2. TPO Nepal

3. Women's Rehabilitation Center (WOREC), Nepal

4. Health Foundation Nepal

5. Nepal Health Crops 

6. CMC-Nepal

7. Brain and Neuroscience Center, Nepal

8. Nepal Association of Social Psychiatry

9. Possible Health

10. Nepalese American Psychiatry Association

11. Nepalese Association of Clinical Psychologists 

Key Note Speakers:

1. Prof. Dr. David Henderson, Chief of Psychiatry, Boston Medical Center, USA

2. Dr. Kapil Dev Upadhyaya, Former Chief Consultant Psychiatrist and Director, Mental Hospital Lagankhel

3. Dr. Renu Adhikari, Co-founder, Women Rehabilitation Center (WOREC) Nepal

4. Dr. Rajesh Pandav, WHO Nepal Representative

5. Prof. Dr. Anindya Das, Head of the Psychiatry, AIIMS Rishikesh, India

Why join the Conference?

• Learn from the national and international experts pioneering the community mental health initiatives

• Understand the local, national and international challenges in mental health and the ways to address them.

• Update yourself with the innovative and cross-cutting research in mental health field promoting mental health for all.

• Experience new ideas on academic psychiatry, consult liaison psychiatry, substance use disorder, serious mental illness, mental health policy and right-based mental health among others.

• Network with ground level health professionals, people with lived experience, psychologists, psychiatrists, general medical professionals, advocates, public health professionals, students and people’s representatives.

• Share your experience on community mental health.

Call for Abstracts

We are delighted to invite you to submit your abstracts for the 2nd International Conference on Community Mental Health, 1-3rd May, 2025 at Chitwan, Nepal. This conference provides a platform for researchers, healthcare professionals including psychiatrists and psychologists, organizations working in the field of community mental health, community advocates and people with lived experience to share their innovative and impactful works and experiences in the field of community mental health in Nepal and around the globe.

Submission Guidelines:

We welcome abstract submissions on a wide range of topics related to community mental health in the world, including that  in Nepal. Whether your work focuses on healthcare access, disease prevention, health education, or healthcare delivery, we encourage you to share your insights and experiences. Considering the impact of innovation and collaboration to minimize the mental health care gap in the world, we strongly encourage submissions related to the initiatives in the community settings.

The submission can be:

1.   Research Studies: Present your original research findings:

1. Background/Introduction

2. Methods

3. Results (and discussion)

4. Discussion

5. Conclusion

Word limit- 300 words

2.   Innovative projects to expand access to mental health care including integration of mental health in primary health care, collaborative care, consult liaison/ Any innovative community mental health projects/ Programs: Share successful community mental health programs. The abstract should include the following:

1.     Background

2.     Description of the project/program activities and impact

3.     Conclusion (e.g., scalability, lessons learnt).

3.   Case Studies/Lived experience: Present real-life cases, challenges faced, and solutions implemented. The abstract should include the following:

1.     Background

2.     Case/experience description and results

3.     Conclusion

4.   Symposium: Symposium should be centered around one of the thematic topics of the conference as listed below. There can be maximum of four (3-4) speakers with one chair/moderator. Each speaker will have 10 minutes to share their research findings/ perspectives followed by five minutes of discussion. The chair/moderate can summarize the session at the end in five minutes. The abstract can be summary of the findings/perspectives of all the presenters with maximum of 750 words. The abstract can have:

1.     Background

2.     Results and discussions

3.     Conclusion

5.   Workshop: Workshops can be maximum of 90 (60-90) minutes long and have at least 2 resource persons/trainers. Workshops should be aimed at developing specific skills of the attending participants. The workshop abstract can be a maximum of 500 words and include description of the following: title, purpose, planned activities, specific skillset that the attendees will acquire. 

·       Abstract Length: Abstracts should be concise and informative, containing all essential elements of your research or program. Please ensure that your abstract does not exceed 300 words.

·       Submission Categories: Oral, poster  

Submission Deadline: March 15, 2025, except for Workshops and Symposium for which the deadline is March 30, 2025.

Notification of Acceptance: Authors will be notified of abstract acceptance by March 30, 2025 except for Workshops and Symposiums for which notifications will be sent by April 10, 2025.

Topic areas for the presentations:

1.     Mental Health and Illness: Epidemiology

2.     Mental Health Interventions

3.     Mental health awareness and advocacy

4.     Child and Adolescent Mental Health

5.     Women’s Mental Health

6.     Geriatric Mental Health

7.     Mental Health and Law

8.     Mental health and sociology/society

9.     Substance use disorders

10. Consultation Liaison Psychiatry

11. Mental Health, Disability and Rehabilitation

12. Caregiver Mental Health

We look forward to receiving your abstracts and to your participation in the Conference.

Please contact us with any questions: nimhnepal@gmail.com

Conference Scientific Committee