Spurwink is pleased to announce our first Community Impact Forum on Wednesday, November 28th from 8-10am at our offices at 901 Washington Avenue in Portland. The November event, focused on trauma, will be the first in a series of free events providing timely information to community partners, leaders, and funders about the critical behavioral health issues affecting Maine people and how they impact the vitality of our community.
The forum will provide attendees with a better understanding of what trauma is, how it influences development and affects children, youth, refugees, and other vulnerable populations in Maine, and its impact on families, schools, and our communities. Following the presentation by two of Spurwink’s clinical leaders, Ben Strick, Director of Adult Behavioral Health Services, and Rebecca Patkus, Regional Director of Outpatients & Community Services, there will be a facilitated discussion on systems-based responses to trauma and its related health outcomes.
Addressing underlying trauma promotes better quality of care, particularly for under-served populations such as those with behavioral health needs and those experiencing the core stressors of the refugee experience. Many people with behavioral health needs have histories of complex trauma that affect their health and their ability to access and successfully navigate our healthcare system. Mainers who are refugees often experience trauma in their home countries, and are too often faced with cultural barriers to accessing behavioral healthcare. People with histories of trauma also have an increased risk for the chronic physical and mental health conditions and their attendant increases in the need for long-term care or inpatient treatment.
For more information or to RSVP, please contact Gabrielle Gallucci, Director of Mission Impact, at (207) 871-1211 ext. 2137 or ggallucci@spurwink.org.
