The Global Mental Well-being & Substance (Mis)Use Conference GMWS 2024 aims to advance collaborative mental health in social and community care settings. Our scope includes intra-and inter-personal professional collaboration with newly-arrived individuals, international students, migrants and service providers.

The Conference theme

“Rest, Recovery & Resilience During & Beyond Pandemics” recognizes that racial trauma and triggers can stimulate mental stressors within marginalized communities,but also culturally specific strategies are critical during the recovery period to support resilience of individuals and communities. Rest, repair and rejuvenation are at the core in accelerating mental health in Canada and around the world.

The theme is a reminder that managing mental health stressors within the African diaspora requires a multi-faceted approach including tapping into culturally-specific strategies for community health and community care. To strengthen health outcomes will therefore require challenging inequities related to mental health access with actions at the service delivery, organizational, policy and planning levels.

Hence, GMWS 2024 welcomes international participants to this Canadian Conference to share lessons learned, evidence-based wise practices, and promote knowledge transfer and exchange to strengthen and sustain health outcomes for people in the African diaspora. We value multiple ways of knowing including scientific, professional and lived experiences of people utilizing mental health services. Throughout the conference, we seek to promote experiential learning, dialogue and mutual learning among stakeholders from different perspectives.

Conference Themes

a. Prevention and Early Intervention
• The importance of early intervention in addressing mental health & substance misuse disorders
• Strategies for prevention, education & awareness campaigns, early screening, early intervention programs and stress management programs
• The role of families, communities, and schools in prevention and early intervention

b. Treatment and Recovery
• Best practices in the treatment of mental health disorders and substance misuse, including evidence-based approaches and emerging therapies
• The role of healthcare providers, including community & allied health workers, primary care physicians, psychiatrists, and addiction specialists in treatment and recovery
• The importance of social support and the involvement of families and communities in the recovery process

c. Policy and Advocacy
• Policies and regulations for addressing mental health disorders and substance misuse, including funding, resource allocation, and access to care
• The role of advocacy groups in shaping policy and promoting public awareness of mental health and substance misuse issues
• The importance of international cooperation in addressing these global public health concerns