A Plurality of Stories: Women, Mental Illness, HIV Risk, and Sexuality in Two Low-Resource Settings (MAGH Lecture, 10/31/2018)
Posted: 10/26/2018 (Local Events)
Announcement: On Wednesday 31 October 2018, the Medical Anthropology and Global Health Seminar Series is pleased to present
“A plurality of stories: Women, mental illness, HIV risk, and sexuality in two low-resource settings”
Professor Pamela Y. Collins, Professor of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences and Global Health
Director / Global Mental Health, University of Washington
Women with severe mental disorders are vulnerable to health disparities in settings around the world. Many women with a diagnosed mental illness may carry multiple stigmatized statuses that influence health outcomes. In some contexts, these include being identified as a person with a mental illness, being a member of an ethnic minority group, being an immigrant, being poor, and being a woman who does not live up to gendered expectations. These potentially stigmatizing identities influence both the way women’s sexuality is viewed and their risk for HIV infection. Given their knowledge of the behavioral issues related to psychiatric illness, mental health care providers are in a unique position to help prevent HIV among women with severe mental illness. This presentation examines how different stigma influences women’s risk of HIV infection and the responses to it in distinct health care settings in North America and Sub-Saharan African.
Dr. Pamela Y. Collins is Professor of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences and of Global Health at the University of Washington (UW). She is also Director of the UW Global Mental Health Program, a joint program of the Departments of Global Health and Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences. Dr. Collins’s research has largely focused on the intersections of HIV and mental health in the US and sub-Saharan Africa, including HIV prevention among women with severe mental illness, integration of care for people with HIV and mental illness, and the impact of social stigma on HIV risk. Newer work addresses the mental health of adolescents in global cities. Dr. Collins served as the Director of the Office for Research on Disparities & Global Mental Health at the National Institute of Mental Health prior to arriving at UW. She has led global mental health initiatives, including the Grand Challenges in Global Mental Health and the RISING SUN initiative, and served on numerous international committees and advisory boards. Dr. Collins is currently part of a working group for the WHO-World Bank initiative on mental health and is a Commissioner for the Lancet Commission on Global Mental Health and Sustainable Development. Dr. Collins’s research has been published in a wide range of journals, such as Social Science and Medicine; AIDS; and Nature.
Date: 10/31/2018
Time: 3:30-4:50 PM
Location: PAA, room A102