Core Access and Equity Section

Dear Twanna Hodge, 
 

Join us on Tuesday, November 26, 2024, at 11:00 A.M. (Washington DC, or EST) for the Transforming Mental Health Through Information Systems webinar. This webinar aims to provide a broad understanding of MHIS, highlighting their importance for planning, which seeks to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of mental health services and ensure more equitable services. Continuous quality improvement in care is encouraged by enabling managers and service providers to make evidence-based decisions. In summary, an MHIS is an action-oriented system: it is not limited to data collection but facilitates decision-making in all areas of the mental health system.

Objectives:

1. Promote the development and strengthening of mental health information systems to guide appropriate policies and services and to reduce disparities in access to mental health care.
2. Explore strategies for implementing integrated information systems within healthcare systems, facilitating the collection of reliable and disaggregated data.
3. Emphasize the importance of providing training on developing information systems, including technical guidance and the definition of basic indicators, to ensure effective and sustainable implementation.
4. Facilitate, during the webinar, the exchange of experiences and best practices in strengthening information systems among mental health professionals, health information system experts, and teams with experience in developing and implementing mental health information systems.
5. Provide information on available resources to strengthen information systems, surveillance, and scientific evidence in mental health, promoting access to relevant and up-to-date information.

• DATE: Tuesday, November 26, 2024
• TIME: 11:00 A.M. (Washington D.C. time or EST) [check below the local time in other cities]
• LANGUAGES: English and Spanish with simultaneous translation.
• REGISTRATION: https://paho-org.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_dq6O1tDMS627ip2968YKzQ#/registration 
• If the Zoom room exceeds capacity, the session will be recorded and published on the event's webpage and the organization's YouTube account. 

• 8:00 a.m. – Los Angeles, Vancouver.
• 10:00 a.m. -  Belmopan, Guatemala City, Managua, Mexico City, San Jose (CR), San Salvador,  Tegucigalpa.
• 11:00 a.m. – Bogota, Kingston, Lima, Panama City, Quito, Washington D.C., Havana, Port-au-Prince, Nassau, Ottawa.
• 12:00 p.m. - Bridgetown, Caracas, Georgetown, La Paz, Port of Spain, San Juan, Santo Domingo.
• 1:00 p.m.  – Asunción,Buenos Aires, Santiago, Brasilia, Montevideo, Paramaribo.
• 5:00 p.m. – Geneva, Madrid.

For other cities, check the local time using the following link.

PAHO is organizing the sixth webinar in the series "Foundations for Change in Mental Health in the Americas," which is focused on mental health information systems (MHIS). Strengthening data, evidence, and research on mental health and psychoactive substance use is one of the five strategic lines of the Policy for Improving Mental Health (PAHO, 2023), which considers them fundamental tools to guide policies, planning, and service delivery. For this purpose, basic indicators of mental health and psychoactive substance use must be collected and disseminated regularly and systematically through national health information systems.