NAMI Convention Set for Washington, D.C.

Posted on May 22, 2001

Arlington, VA - The National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI), the nation's largest grassroots organization dedicated to improving the lives of people with severe mental illnesses, will hold its 22nd annual convention July 11-15, 2001 in Washington, D.C.

More than 2500 NAMI leaders will come together to seek greater breakthroughs in scientific research; better evaluations, diagnoses and treatment of mental illnesses in children and adults, and ensuring access to necessary medicines and other treatment. Because the World Health Organization (WHO) is focused this year on the international dimensions of mental illness, the NAMI convention includes several important, multicultural perspectives. It will include speakers from Australia, Canada, India, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea.

WHEN: Wednesday, July 11 through Sunday, July 15, 2001

WHERE: Washington Hilton & Towers Hotel
1919 Connecticut Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20009

VIP speakers include:

• HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson (invited)
• Senator Pete Domenici (R-NM)
• Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA)
• Senator Paul Wellstone (D-MN)
• U.S. Surgeon General David Satcher (invited)
• Dr. Eric Kandel, 2000 Nobel Prize winner in Medicine
• Dr. Steve Hyman, National Institute of Mental Health
• Dr. Bernard Arons, Center for Mental Health Services
• Dr. David Brendling-Bennett, Pan American Health Organization (PAHO)

Key plenary sessions will be devoted to "The Global Impact of Mental Illness" and "New Research Bringing Hope." Selected symposium, seminar, or workshop topics include:

• International Human Rights Advocacy for People with Mental
• Disabilities Worldwide
• Family Support & Innovative Service Models In Other Cultures and Countries
• Family-to-Family in Spanish-Speaking Communities
• Minorities in Mental Health Systems
• Medications, Children, and Schools
• Recognizing Teenage Depression
• Building More Responsive Children's Mental Health Systems
• Long-Term Care: A Strategy for the Future
• Using the Supreme Court's Olmstead Decision for System Change
• Improving Mental Health Care in the Veterans Affairs (VA) System
• Helping People in the Criminal Justice System
• Barriers to Schizophrenia Research
• Beyond Seclusion & Restraints: Are We There Yet?
• Implications of the Family Opportunity Act
• New Employment Opportunities for Consumers
• Survival Skills to Help Consumers Keep Their Jobs
• How To Fight Back with Managed Care
• Strategies to Ensure Access to Medicines
• The Healing Power of Faith

The convention also includes Research Updates on schizophrenia, mood disorders, anxiety and personality disorders, mental illnesses in children and adolescents, medications, and "Ask the Doctor" sessions. It offers the latest information concerning mental illnesses and interview opportunities with medical and policy experts, consumers, and family members.