Health Programs

In 1985, former First Lady Rosalynn Carter initiated the annual Rosalynn Carter Symposium on Mental Health Policy to bring together national leaders in mental health to focus and coordinate their efforts on an issue of common concern.

The symposia have represented a unique opportunity each year for this leadership to hear remarks from a variety of individuals with expertise on a selected topic; discuss diverse viewpoints in an open forum; identify areas of consensus and potential collaborations as well as points of divergence; and to recommend action steps for symposium participants to move an agenda forward.

Held each November, the symposia have examined such issues as mental illness and the elderly, child and adolescent illness, family coping, financing mental health services and research, treating mental illness in the primary care setting, and stigma and mental illness.

The Mental Health Program hosts two meetings each year designed to tackle specific mental health issues of public policy:  The Rosalynn Carter Symposium on Mental Health Policy and the Rosalynn Carter Georgia Mental Health Forum, established in 1995, held each May for state mental health organizations.
 
These meetings bring mental health professionals together for open discussions on mental health to affect change. The meetings include representatives from all sectors of the industry — policymakers, health care providers, and consumers.