Webinar: Mental Health and African-American Veterans
Friday, March 12, 2021 | 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM CST
About the webinar
Mental health disparities impacting communities of color continue to be a growing concern. According to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America, Black Americans are “20% more likely to experience serious mental health problems than the general population”. However, these challenges are particularly profound for African American Veterans, who are often left to deal with their memories of combat, struggle with normalized institutional racism, and encounter difficulties accompanying attempts to seek help once returned home. The act of seeking treatment for common illnesses, which include everything from mild anxiety to schizophrenia, may in itself be a challenging process. Black veterans who seek mental health treatment may experience skepticism towards interventions, distrust in clinicians, fear of discriminatory treatment, and shame around the erroneous and false stigma about appearing ‘weak.’ In many cases, these attitudes are often justified. The lack of sensitivity training by many mental health professionals (86% of which are white, according to 2015 data from the American Psychological Association) is mainly responsible for the gaps in communication and cultural misunderstandings that arise between patients and practitioners. These dynamics can result in cases of misdiagnosis, unsatisfactory treatment plans, and experiences of discomfort that discourage future attempts to seek help. To make an already dire situation worse, the last several months have been particularly painful for the black community as police brutality and systemic racism constantly remind African Americans of the marginalization that threatens them daily. Some estimates indicate that the black community is subject to almost 30% of all police brutality cases, despite comprising only 13% of the U.S. population. These trends are set against the larger backdrop of mental health challenges facing African Americans, including trauma from the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on the Black community. Their effects are magnified by widespread inaccessibility of mental health resources, conscious and unconscious biases in care delivery, and a lack of diversity among treatment providers. In this webinar, we bring together leading mental health experts to discuss how to address this growing area of concern.
WEBINAR PANELISTS
Dr. Carlton Abner DNP, RN-BC
Dean of VA Innovative Technology Advancement Lab (VITAL) at Cerner Corporation
Carlton Abner brings more than 25 years of healthcare experience, including 15 years of operational leadership within a variety of acute care settings including managed behavioral care. His healthcare experience also includes over 20 years of military experience. He is currently serving as a Lieutenant Colonel and Chief Nursing Executive in the Kansas Air National Guard.
Dr. Abner is currently the Dean of the VA Innovative Technology Advancement Lab (VITAL). The VITAL program was established as an advanced training program for select VA Healthcare workers to quickly leverage the full capabilities of their new electronic healthcare record.
Mr. Danny Gladden
Director Of Behavioral Health at Cerner Corporation
Danny Gladden, MBA, MSW, LCSW, is General Manager and Director of Behavioral Health for Cerner Corporation a global health platform and technology company. Danny is also a licensed mental health and addiction treatment clinician and senior leader for Akeela, Inc. serving most recently as Chief Operating Officer. Danny previously served in clinical and administrative leadership for Behavioral Health Response and is Adjunct Clinical Professor of Social Work at St. Louis University School of Social Work and has served as a human services and social work educator since 2010. Danny is a licensed clinical social worker (LCSW) licensed to practice in Missouri and Alaska.
Dr. Mikal Rasheed, PhD
Embedded Clinical Psychologist at USASOC
Dr. Mikal A. Rasheed is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist who has been in the field for more than 12 years. He is from Tampa, Florida and went to undergrad at the University of Florida. He completed his Master’s and Ph.D in Clinical Health Psychology at the University of Miami, where his research focused on the quality of life and sexual health of prostate cancer survivors.
At the conclusion of his graduate training he joined the US Air Force and was an active duty Clinical Psychologist from 2010-2015. During this time he was trained as a Generalist able to treat any mental health concern in the active duty military population. He has extensive training and experience in the treatment of PTSD, anxiety disorders, depression and personality disorders. In 2015 he deployed to Bagram, Afghanistan where he worked in the field Hospital’s Primary Care unit, Inpatient unit, and as a Reintegration Specialist with a Special Forces unit.
When he left active duty in 2015 his work in the DOD continued at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland as a Staff Psychologist. In 2017 he joined the staff at the Pentagon's Primary Care Clinic and was eventually chosen to lead the Pentagon’s Behavioral Health Clinic. Currently he works for a special missions unit within the US Army’s Special Operations Command as an Embedded Clinical Psychologist. He also works part time in a tele-behavioral health practice called Doctor on Demand.
Dr. Rasheed is a member of multiple minority groups as an African American male who is Gay and also raised in a Muslim household. This lived experience has informed his clinical work and given him the opportunity to build bridges to members of these underserved communities. His work seeks to decrease racial disparities in mental health care, advocate for LGBT service members, and confront negative stereotypes about Muslim Americans --All while being committed to the Psychological Health of all Active Duty Service Members.
Dr. John Rekart, PhD
Senior Health Care Executive at Cerner Corporation
Dr. Rekart is a Senior Health Care Executive for Cerner Corporation in their Government Services Sector. Current duties include physician and provider adoption and strategy, clinical informatics and business intelligence, and use of data and analytics to improve adoption of EHRs with current clients.
Prior to Cerner, Dr. Rekart was the statewide Chief of Quality Management and Informatics for the Mental Health Program of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. He has worked in mental health for over 25 years and has worked for corrections for 18 years. He assisted in design and activation of a 1700 bed correctional acute care facility as well as the Chief of Mental Health for the same facility. In his previous role, he leveraged mental health data to improve the overall effectiveness of patient care delivery, and enhance the treatment for patients, providers, and the State of California. Using recent developments in data science techniques, Dr. Rekart and his team developed predictive analytics to identify meaningful symptom patterns, high risk self-harm patients, and level of care placements in an effort to advance clinical decision support.
Ms. Angela Tate
Mental Health Professional, Leader, Therapist, Speaker, Trainer
Reverend Angela M. Tate is a licensed professional counselor (LPC) and has 20-years of experience in non-profit leadership including most recently at Behavioral Health Response (BHR) where she served as Vice President of Operations. Angela received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from Maryville University and her Masters of Education in Counseling from University of Missouri-St Louis. She currently serves as the Associate Pastor of West Side Baptist Church in St. Louis, MO. Angela is a sought after conference speaker and workshop facilitator often speaking about topics such as Self-Care, Leadership, Suicide Prevention and Mental Health and the Church.
About Cerner Government Services
Who we are today
Cerner Government Services (CGS), a wholly owned subsidiary of Cerner Corporation, is transforming how the government delivers health care by bringing the best of its commercial practices, breakthrough innovation and global experience to serve the unique missions of its federal military and civilian health clients.
Our intelligent, secure solutions in clinical and population health management, open platforms and leading-edge services and technology are helping federal health organizations deliver smarter, better, more connected care for individuals and communities.
Together with a team of world-class partners, CGS is enabling a lifetime of seamless care for Veterans, Service members and their families by implementing a single common electronic heath record system across U.S. Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs.
CGS is proud to be a catalyst for change today and for generations to come.
Who we serve
CGS brings its health care leadership and technology to serve federal military and civilian health agencies in achieving their largest, most complex missions. We are implementing a single common electronic heath record system across the U.S. Departments of Veterans Affairs and Defense that will provide one health record for every patient as they transition from active duty to Veteran status. This historic effort will enable VA, DoD and community providers to access the right data, at the right place, at the right time, improving patient outcomes, ensuring a lifetime of seamless care for Veterans, Service members and their families and revolutionizing health care for all.
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