Recap: Community Care + Mental Health Webinar

On June 6th, the Disability Community Engagement Partner Project (DCEPP) at AAHD held our fifth conversation in the 2023-2024 Disability and Health Webinar series with “It Takes All of Us: Community Care and Mental Health.” Moderated by our very own Devon Anderson, this conversation brought together community advocates in conversation about the social drivers of mental health and best practices in community-based care. Many thanks to our distinguished panelists who made this conversation possible. Learn more about our speakers in the section below along with additional resources shared during the panel.

Learn more about the All of Us Research Program and how inclusive research might support better health for all: https://bit.ly/JoinAOU-June6.


Resources


Meet the Panelists

Portrait of Aisha Adkins.Aisha Adkins, MPA, CNP (she/her)  is an award-winning activist, sought-after solutions journalist, and the Manager of Training for Caring Across Generations, residing on unceded Cherokee Nation territory in Atlanta, GA. She is passionate about building an equitable, inclusive, and comprehensive public health and care infrastructure using media, storytelling, and culture and policy change. Her versatility has enabled her to publish works both in academic journals and popular publications, including the American Society on Aging’s Generations Journal, Blavity, Thrive, and Nursing Administration Quarterly. She recently completed the Columbia University’s Age Boom Academy 2023 fellowship cohort.

Portrait of Earl Miller.Earl Miller (he/him) first entered the psychiatric and foster care systems when he was 12. He went on to spend as much of his teen years in the system as he did out, which continued into early adulthood and included experiences of homelessness, hospitalization, and a great deal of trauma. Nowadays, Earl is the father of two healthy, and full-of-life kids who he credits with helping to tether him to this world. He is also a successful musician and poet who has produced several albums. Earl, currently, serves as the Director of Community Supports at the Wildflower Alliance.

 

Portrait of Chuck Strand.Chuck Strand (he/him) is the Executive Director of Rural Minds, a nonprofit with the mission to serve as the informed voice for mental health in rural America and provide mental health information and resources. Chuck grew up in a small town in northern Michigan near the shores of Lake Superior. His rural roots combined with extensive experience in nonprofit leadership, patient advocacy, and marketing shape his approach to leading the Rural Minds team to develop content and deliver programs to confront mental health challenges in rural America and the stigma that surrounds mental illness.