Dr. Rappaport will present”Narrative Medicine as a Teaching Tool: Incorporating Memoir, Speakers, and Writing” as part of Symposium 13: Young Voices: Approaching Lived Experience Through Narrative, Qualitative, Video, and Graphic Methodologies at AACAP’s Annual Meeting.

Dr. Rappaport will present Keeping Our Schools Safe: A Safety Assessment Approach to Violence Prevention at Cambridge Health Alliance’s Pediatrics Grand Rounds.

Join us for a webinar led by Hanover experts, district leaders, and subject-matter experts, where we will share insights and strategies designed to ensure the mental health and wellness of students and staff in school communities. Participants will learn evidence-based strategies and real-world practices that educational leaders have used to create school environments where student and staff mental health are top priorities.

Join us as we delve into the challenges and solutions leading with mental health and wellness calls in 21st Century schools.

Never have public schools faced greater challenges regarding the mental health and wellness of both students and educators than in the period of time following the COVID-19 pandemic. Lower levels of staff and student wellness are associated with a negative school climate, poorer attendance, and challenges with staff retention. Critically, students whose mental health and wellness are compromised are less ready to learn and far more likely to struggle behaviorally and emotionally.

Combating these issues calls for both preventative and responsive strategies. College, career, and life-ready young people emerge from schools where they, and the adults who oversee their growth, are supported beyond academics to be healthy individuals in all that it implies.

Panelists:
– Dr. Roberto Lozano – Chief of Educational Equity and Support Programs, Las Cruces Public Schools (NM)
– Dr. Christopher Willard – Harvard Medical School Faculty, Author, Psychologist, and Consultant
– Dr. Nancy Rappaport – Associate Professor of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School

Moderators:
– Dr. Naomi Brown – K12 Content Director, Hanover Research
– Dr. Sean Watkins – K12 Content Director II, Hanover Research

Students of all ages continue to struggle with increased mental health issues since the pandemic upended the world. According to a CDC 2021 survey, 42% of adolescent students felt persistently sad and 22% seriously considered attempting suicide. The U.S. Surgeon General has further emphasized the issue’s urgency with his recent report on the youth loneliness crisis. Our children and teens are crying out for help, and those who work with school-aged youth must stay current with the latest knowledge and skills that will enhance the emotional well-being of our students.

This course is designed to meet those needs and offer participants practical strategies with a mix of lecture, case studies, interactive panels and Q&A. Topics will cover resilience, risk assessment related to suicide and extremism, trauma awareness, social justice and immigrant supports; perfectionism, school avoidance and pediatric emergencies; while attending compassionately to ourselves and our colleagues.

Participants will complete the course with practical and timely clinical information and skills based on emerging research, evidence-based practice and innovative learning strategies. And this year we are excited to now offer two options of format: in person or online livestream.

We welcome all mental health and health clinicians, educators, school administrators, researchers, and others interested in the development and treatment of school-aged children and adolescents.

Who Should Attend

• Primary Care Providers
• Specialty Physicians
• Nurses
• Psychologists
• Counselors
• Social Workers
• Family Therapists

Dr. Rappaport is the chair of this institute on school threat assessment and management, and will present “Institute 4.1: Looking Back and Moving Forward on Threat Assessment and Management in Schools: Research Evidence, Implementation Barriers, and Next Steps ” with Dr. Sarah Goodrum.

Dr. Rappaport will be the discussant for this Clinical Perspectives session on school avoidance and absenteeism.

Child psychiatrists, whether consulting to schools or providing services in private practice or an emergency room, are increasingly asked to make judgments about students’ safety. Thus, it is imperative that they are familiar with the research on assessing student threats, broaden their knowledge base of the standard safety/threat assessment process, and understand the critical information needed for this process. This presentation provides an overview of a comprehensive school safety assessment approach for students whose behavior raises concern about their potential for violence, presenting a model that can help prevent school violence while getting students and families the services they need. Participants will better understand the multi-faceted role that child psychiatrists, working in a variety of settings, can play in building a school culture of safety, performing school threat assessment and responding appropriately, facilitating communication and connection to needed services, and supporting students, families, and educators.