Rural Mental Health Issues Take Center Stage at Upcoming UA Conference

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Zelia Baugh, the newly appointed commissioner of the Alabama Department of Mental Health, will be a keynote speaker at the 12th annual Rural Health Conference on Monday, April 25, and Tuesday, April 26, at the Bryant Conference Center on The University of Alabama campus.

The conference, “Rural Mental Health: Tackling the Silent Epidemic,” will cover such topics as general mental health and screening, adolescent mental health, geriatric mental health and substance abuse.

Also providing a keynote address is Dr. Richard M. Allman, Parrish Endowed Professor of Medicine and director of the division of gerontology, geriatrics and palliative care at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

The Rural Health Conference is hosted by the Institute for Rural Health Research and The University of Alabama School of Medicine, Tuscaloosa Campus. Health-care providers, researchers, community leaders, government officials and representatives of faith-based organizations attend the conference to hear from prominent speakers in the field and share information and knowledge about the health disparities that impact rural Alabama.

The Institute for Rural Health Research was established in 2001 and conducts research to improve health in rural Alabama.

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Rural Health Policy, mental health services are in short supply in rural America, especially in the face of increasing need. The department says rural Americans are disproportionately poor, elderly, young and chronically ill – groups that are at greater risk for mental disorders.

Baugh, who holds a Master of Social Work from UA, brings 18 years of experience in health care to her position as commissioner of the Alabama Department of Mental Health, including administrative and clinical practice in psychiatric care and substance abuse treatment.

She heads an agency that, through a network of state-operated facilities, community mental health centers and contract providers, serves 110,000 people each year who experience serious mental illness. The department also serves 25,000 people per year in substance abuse recovery treatment programs and provides services for 7,000 people annually who have an intellectual disability.

Before her appointment as commissioner, Baugh was administrator of psychiatry at UAB’s Center for Psychiatry at Brookwood Medical Center in Birmingham.

Allman has overseen the growth of his division at UAB from nine to 48 faculty members, including 30 physicians and 18 doctoral-level research scientists. He also serves in leadership positions with the Southeast Center of Excellence in Geriatric Medicine; the Birmingham/Atlanta Veterans Affairs Geriatric Research, Education and Clinical Center; and the Deep South Resource Center for Minority Aging Research.

In addition, Allman is the principal investigator of the National Institute on Aging-funded UAB Study of Aging, which focuses on risk factors for mobility loss among older adults.

The registration fee for the Rural Health Conference is $100 a person ($25 for students). Continuing Education Units and Continuing Medical Education will be offered. For more information and to register online, visit the conference website at http://rhc.ua.edu or contact the Institute for Rural Health Research at 205/348-0025.