Behavioral Health and Primary Care During and After COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic could lead to 75,000 additional deaths from alcohol and drug misuse and suicide, according to an analysis by Well Being Trust (WBT) and the Robert Graham Center for Policy Studies in Family Medicine and Primary Care released in early May and titled Projected Deaths of Despair From COVID-19. This research underscores the fact that the pandemic has created enormous behavioral health (BH) concerns that primary care in tandem with BH can help address now and as the country emerges from the pandemic. We heard creative ideas from two of the authors of the Deaths of Despair brief as well as from a patient who also provides peer support. Join us as we discuss the steps the primary care community can take to avoid the deaths predicted in the report and meet the behavioral health needs arising from both the health and economic crises.

Speakers:

Jack Westfall, MD, MPH | Director, Robert Graham Center
Benjamin Miller, PsyD | Chief Strategy Officer, Well Being Trust
Kelly Davis | Director of Peer Advocacy, Supports, and Services, Mental Health America


Moderator:

Arthur C. Evans, Jr., PhD | Chief Executive Officer and Executive Vice President, American Psychological Association

Arthur Evans

Executive Vice President and CEO, American Psychological Association
Scientist-practitioner, clinical and community psychologist and health care innovator Arthur C. Evans Jr., PhD, is CEO of the American Psychological Association, a post he assumed on March 20, 2017. In this position, he heads the leading scientific and professional organization representing psychology in the United States, with nearly 115,700 researchers, educators, clinicians, consultants and students as its members. read more

Benjamin Miller, PsyD

President, Well Being Trust
As President of Well Being Trust, Benjamin F. Miller, PsyD, oversees the implementation of the foundation’s strategies and full portfolio of investments and partnerships to help Well Being Trust have a real-world impact on America’s mental health and addiction crisis. These responsibilities build on those in Dr. Miller’s prior role as Chief Strategy Officer of Well Being Trust, through which he ensured alignment across the foundation’s grants, research, partnerships and policy recommendations. read more

Jack Westfall, MD, MPH

Jack Westfall is a family doctor in Washington, D.C. He completed his MD and MPH at the University of Kansas School of Medicine, an internship in hospital medicine in Wichita, Kansas, and his Family Medicine Residency at the University of Colorado Rose Family Medicine Program. After joining the faculty at the University of Colorado Department of Family Medicine, Dr. Westfall started the High Plains Research Network, a geographic community and practice-based research network in rural and frontier Colorado. He practiced family medicine in several rural communities including Limon, Ft. Morgan, and his hometown of Yuma, Colorado. read more

Kelly Davis

Director of Peer Advocacy, Supports, and Services, Mental Health America
Kelly Davis is the Director of Peer Advocacy, Supports, and Services at Mental Health America (MHA), where she promotes the expansion of peer support throughout health care. She also leads MHA’s Collegiate Mental Health Innovation Council, which is dedicated to highlighting and expanding student-led programs that fill gaps in traditional services and supports on campus. Kelly is passionate about empowerment, civil rights, positive psychology, peer support, and trauma-informed care. In 2019, Kelly was awarded the Disruptive Innovator Award by the International Association of Peer Supporters, given to a young person making positive change in mental health through positive disruption. read more
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