Brandon Kohrt, MD, PhD discussed Mental Health issues, the invisible disabilities, in relation to challenges faced during the COVID-19 crisis. ITfHESE brings the Mental Health Care in the era of COVID-19 to the front burner addressing the issues that affect humanity as a whole as well as vulnerable communities around the globe. It took place on April 30, 2020.
Transcript This is the verbatim transcript in PDF.
Speaker
Brandon Kohrt, MD, PhD, is the Charles and Sonia Akman Professor of Global Psychiatry, and Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Global Health, and Anthropology at George Washington University. As an internationally recognized global mental health expert, he works with populations affected by war-related trauma, torture, environmental disasters, and chronic stressor of poverty, discrimination, and lack of access to healthcare. Dr. Kohrt conducts global mental health research focusing on populations affected by war-related trauma and chronic stressors of poverty, discrimination, and lack of access to healthcare and education. He has worked in Nepal for 16 years using a bio-cultural developmental perspective integrating epidemiology, cultural anthropology, ethno-psychology, and neuroendocrinology. Since 2000, he has conducted a prospective study of adults in rural Nepal examining the effects of political trauma, ethnic discrimination, gender-based violence, and poverty on mental health. With Transcultural Psychosocial Organization (TPO) Nepal, he designed and evaluated psychosocial reintegration packages for child soldiers in Nepal. He works with The Carter Center Mental Health Liberia Program developing anti-stigma campaigns and family psycho-education programs. He directs the anti-stigma program of the Mental Health Beyond Facilities program in Liberia, Uganda, and Nepal. Dr. Kohrt is the lead academic collaborator for the World Health Organization Ensuring Quality in Psychological Support (EQUIP) initiative. For the COVID-19 response, Dr. Kohrt is involved in numerous initiatives including EQUIP-remote to help mental health care providers transition to remote and mHealth services, and he is working with refugees in the U.S. to provide remote psychological support to fellow refugees during public health lockdowns.