William James College Forum

Opioid Crisis:

Thinking Outside the Box

 

Tuesday, April 5, 2016 | 8:30 am – 12:30 pm | at the Back Bay Events Center, Boston*

John Hancock Hall & Dorothy Quincy Suite, 180 Berkeley Street (Corner of Berkeley & Stuart Streets)

 

Conference Director

David B. Herzog, MD, Emeritus Professor of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School; Special Assistant to the President, William James College

 

The William James College Forum series convenes thought leaders to address societal issues that affect mental health. The topic for the April 5, 2016 Forum is “Opioid Crisis: Thinking Outside the Box.”  The event is hosted by William James College and co-sponsored by the Association for Behavioral Healthcare, the Massachusetts Public Health Association, and the New England Rural Health RoundTable. Representatives from SAMHSA, Health Resources Services Administration, Department of Health and Human Services, Massachusetts Public Health Association, Association for Behavioral Healthcare, New England Rural Health RoundTable and William James College comprise the planning committee.

• Between 2000 and 2010, rates of accidental prescription opioid overdose in U.S. increased almost fourfold.

• In Massachusetts, opioid deaths topped 1,000 in 2014.

• Estimates from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health show that during the 1st half of 2015, the number of deaths from opioid overdoses — 684 — increased about 6% from the same period last year.

In Massachusetts, Blacks and Latinos represent 15% of the population yet account for 33% of convictions and 72% of convictions for mandatory drug offenses.

 

The Forum will present the opioid crisis from policy, academic, and frontline perspectives. Our target audience is policymakers, clinic administrators and clinicians. Opioid abuse has risen to epidemic proportions in Massachusetts and across the nation. There are evidence-based interventions and new federal and state policies aimed at ameliorating the crisis. Yet the mortality rate remains extraordinarily high. The Forum will focus on innovative harm reduction strategies, approaches to racial and ethnic disparities in access to treatment, and state of the art prevention and early intervention programs.

 

Opening Remarks

Marylou Sudders, Secretary, Executive Office of Health and Human Services, Commonwealth of Massachusetts

 

Keynote Speakers

Carl Hart, PhD, Associate Professor of Psychology in the Departments of Psychiatry and Psychology at Columbia University, and Director of the Residential Studies and Methamphetamine Research Laboratories at the New York State Psychiatric Institute

 

Andrew Kolodny, MD, Chief Medical Officer of Phoenix House; a senior scientist at the Heller School for Social Policy and Management at Brandeis University; a research professor at the Global Institute of Public Health, New York University; and Executive Director and co-founder of Physicians for Responsible Opioid Prescribing (PROP)

 

Panel Discussion

The discussion will focus on harm reduction strategies, racial disparities in accessing treatment, and ways to identify those at greatest risk.

 

The Moderator

Martha Bebinger, WBUR reporter who is an expert in communications on the opioid crisis.

 

Panelists

 

Leonard Campanello, Chief of Police, Gloucester, Massachusetts

 

Jessie M. Gaeta, MD, Chief Medical Officer, Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program and Assistant Professor of Medicine, Boston University School of Medicine

 

Haner Hernández, PhD, CADAC II, LADC I, Brown University’s Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies

 

Mary McGeown, President and CEO of the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children

 

Joanne Peterson, Founder and Executive Director, Learn to Cope, Inc.

 

Closing Remarks

Charlie Baker, Governor, Commonwealth of Massachusetts

 

OC16 | 4 CE Credits | $75

Recovery Coaches & Recovery Specialists | $37.50

Graduate Students, General Public, Other Professionals | No CE Credits | Free

Pre-Registration is REQUIRED | Seating is limited

 

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PARKING & TRANSPORTATION

Back Bay Events Center is located within blocks of several MBTA stations.