7thNational Conference of WAPR-IC 2023 at LGB Regional Institute of Mental Health, Tezpur, Assam

The 7thNational Conference of WAPR-IC was held on 17th March of 2023 at LGB Regional Institute of Mental Health, Tezpur, Assam.
Total number of 257 participants registered for the conference.
There were an additional 35 resource persons from the background of Psychiatry, Psychiatric Social Work, Clinical Psychology, Psychiatric Nursing and the NGO sector who also attended and supported the scientific program. The first day of conference started with the registration of participants from various fields of Mental Health and its allied branches.
The first half of the programme was divided into 2 plenary sessions and 3 symposiums (from 9 am to 1 pm) with the theme of ‘Promoting rights and recovery in Mental Health’ by Dr. Gabriele Rocca, Health Director of the ‘Solaris’, Social Enterprise, Professor at the Post Graduate School of Psychotherapy, Milan, Italy & President WAPR; Dr. V.K. Radhakrishnan, Director, CNK Hospital (P)Ltd, Changanachery & Secretary General, WAPR; Dr Murali Thyloth, Professor & Head, Department of Psychiatry, Ramaiah Medical College, Bengaluru; and Dr Alexander Smith, Director of Adult Mental Health Services, USA.
Dr R. Thara, Chair of Research at SCARF, gave an Oration on ‘In Memoriam: Late Prof M. Sarada Menon-A Legacy in Psychosocial Rehabilitation’.
This was followed by symposiums on the theme of Different Models of Psychosocial Rehabilitation in India by Dr. C. Ramasubramanian, Founder & Senior Consultant Psychiatrist, MS Chellamuthu Trust & Research Foundation; Dr. Shashi Rai, Senior Consultant Psychiatrist & Chairperson, Richmond Fellowship Society (India); Dr R. Padmavati, Director, SCARF, Chennai; and Dr. Mohan K Isaac, Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, The University of Western Australia.

The 2nd symposium (sponsored by Mariwala Health Initiative) on the theme ‘Rehabilitation in Northeast India’ with speakers, Mintu Moni Sarma, (Program lead, MITA, the ANT, Bongaigaon); Dilip Gaonker, (Parivartan Trust); Dr Nilesh Mohite, (Clinical Head of Parivartan) and Dr. Rajkumar Lenin Singh, (Professor, Dept of Psychiatry, RIMS, Imphal).

The 3rd session (sponsored by NEC) on ‘Rehabilitation of Homeless Person with Mental Illness’ by Dr G. Swaminath, Consultant Psychiatrist, Bengaluru; Dr. Bharat Vatwani, Psychiatrist, Founder, Shraddha Rehabilitation Foundation, Mumbai; Anjana Goswami, Founder Director, Ashadeep, Guwahati; and Maichel P.A., Director, Jyothinivas Charitable Society, Wayanad.
Inaugural ceremony for the 7th National Conference of WAPR-IC was held in the Auditorium, LGB Regional Institute of Mental Health, Tezpur, Assam between 3.30 pm to 5 pm on 17th March 2023. The program started with the lighting of the lamp by the dignitaries. Welcome address was given by the Director, LGBRIMH, Dr. S.K. Deuri.
Souvenir was released by the dignitaries present. Dr. Gabrriele Rocca, President, WAPR, Dr. V.K. Radhakrishnan, Secretary General, WAPR & Dr. H Chandrasekhar, Secretary, WAPR-IC addressed the conference.
Guest of Honor, Dr. Bharat Vatwani, Founder of Shraddha Rehabilitation Foundation and Magsaysay Awardee further addressed the conference.
The Chief Guest, Dr. Karuna Hazarika, Principal, Tezpur Medical College & Hospital addressed the conference with an insightful speech.

The Presidential Address was given by Dr. C. Ramasubramanin, President, WAPR-IC. Dr. Sobhana H., Organizing Secretary of the Conference delivered the vote of thanks to all the dignitaries, participants, media personnel and organizing committee member at the close of session. The program ended with the National Anthem.
The afternoon session was a corporate session based on the ‘Role of Protin Kinase C in Bipolar Disorder Management and Real-world Experience of Endoxifen’ by Dr. Nisant Goyal, Prof. of Psychiatry, CIP Ranchi.
Simultaneously, presentations of free papers were held at the academic building, with the conduction of 6 workshops held in the evening on the topics of CBT in Psychosis- Augmenting Recovery Oriented Psychiatric Rehabilitation by Improving Insight; Psychosocial Rehabilitation with Industrial Workers; Cognitive Deficits and Cognitive Remediation in Psychosis; Adaptation of the WHO’s Rehabilitation Competency Framework in the Indian Context; Caring for Careers: Creating a Network of Support and Transforming Rehabilitation landscape using the CFSR Model.
Later in the day, a cultural evening was held for the entertainment of the guests and delegates.
The 2nd day of the conference started with the free paper presentation.
A total of 13 symposiums were held. The various themes of deliberation were- Legal Issues and Dilemmas in Psychosocial Rehabilitation and Helping Families of Persons with Chronic Mental Illness that was sponsored by NEC, Shillong.

Other themes for symposium were the Role of work in Recovery, Restitution and Rehabilitation of the Persons with Mental Illness: A Historical Account of the Asylums of India (sponsored by Mariwala Health Initiative); The Journey of Recovery Oriented Services (ROSes) café at NIMHANS: Conceptualization, Current Status and Learnings; Community Based Rehabilitation; Mental Health of Immigrants and Refugees-Indian Scenario; Integrating Knowledge and Methods of Neurosciences and Psychotherapy for Recovery in Mental Illness, was conducted.
Further, the conference session was followed by presentations of free papers on the various themes by the participants across India. Thirteen (13) symposiums on various themes were held.
The themes of the symposiums were – Pragmatics of Running a Psychiatric Rehabilitation Work Program in India, Social and Economic Inclusion of Persons with Mental Health Issues in India: Challenges and Gaps, Dementia-Friendly Hospitals: Insights for Implementation in the Indian Context, Community-Based Services in the Field of Child and Adolescent Mental Health, Trans-cranial electrical stimulation, its role in psychiatric rehabilitation; EEG-Neurofeedback Intervention in Chronic Psychiatric Disorders; Mental Health Initiatives at Paripurnata, Mental Health Initiatives at Satra, Needs and Issues of Persons with Mental Illness.
These were followed by Panel discussions (sponsored by Mariwala Health Initiative) on the topic of Needs and Issues of Families of Persons with Mental Illness.

The conference concluded with valedictory function that ended at 07;00 pm.
19-03-2023
Mahabahu.com is an Online Magazine with collection of premium Assamese and English articles and posts with cultural base and modern thinking. You can send your articles to editor@mahabahu.com / editor@mahabahoo.com ( For Assamese article, Unicode font is necessary)