Is the cliché true? Are people happier in the ‘burbs and wealthy communities? This question and others will be addressed at the conference on neighbourhood environment and mental health hosted by the Douglas Mental Health University Institute.

“The aim of this one-day conference is to highlight the latest theories and evidence linking neighbourhood environment to mental health,” says Douglas researcher, Norbert Schmitz, Chairman of the conference Organizing Committee.

The speakers and their findings on:

• Neighbourhoods and depression
  Dr. Christina Mair, Prevention Research Center, Berkeley, CA, will outline the association between neighbourhood characteristics and depressive symptoms.
   
• Neighbourhood poverty and alcohol use
  Dr. Magdalena Cerda, Center for Urban Epidemiological Studies, The New York Academy of Medicine, NY, will discuss what current studies tell us about the effect of neighbourhood concentration of poverty on alcohol use and alcohol abuse among adults.
   
• Why does the neighbourhood environment affects mental health?
  Dr. Terrence Hill, Department of Sociology, Florida State University, FL, will emphasize the theoretical and empirical explanations for the link between neighbourhood conditions and mental health. We already know that neighbourhood context matters for mental health. The question is, why?
   
• Neighbourhoods and psychotic disorders
  Dr James Kirkbride, Psychiatry Department, Cambridge University, UK, will outline the epidemiological evidence which suggests a role for the social environment in psychosis. He proposes that by investigating whether, how, when and which genetic and environmental factors interact, we will greatly increase our chances of eliciting the complex, multifactorialcauses of psychosis.
   
• Measuring the neighbourhood environment
  Dr. Janet A. Parsons, St. Michael's Hospital, Keenan Research Centre, Toronto, Canada, will discuss how we can measure the neighbourhood environment.

What: Happy places, happy people - Conference on neighbourhood environment and mental health

When: Friday January 28, 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Where: Douglas Mental Health University Institute, Bowerman Room, Dobell Pavilion. 6875, Blvd LaSalle

Information

Florence Meney
Media Relation
Communications and public affairs
Phone: 514-761-6131, ext. 2769
Cell.: 514-835-3236
florence_dot_meney_At_douglas_dot_mcgill_dot_ca

Download (PDF)