The Virginia Hospital Education and Research Foundation is virtually hosting our fourth annual Virginia Behavioral Health Summit on September 23, 2021. This year’s theme, “Coming Out of Isolation: Our Next Normal,” will take a holistic approach to the challenges and opportunities within behavioral health care.
Behavioral health affects all communities, and the Summit participants and discussions will reflect the diverse stakeholders and affected individuals within Virginia and across the country. The target audience includes patients, family members, providers, education professionals, policy makers, and law enforcement. Unified more than ever by isolation, this year’s Summit aims to bring speakers and panelists together to shift the conversation and normalize behavioral health care as simply, health care.
Becoming a Sponsoring Partner
We are excited about hosting our first fully virtual Virginia Behavioral Health Summit and invite you to join us as a “Sponsoring Partner”! Registration for the Summit will be free of charge, and your support will help ensure that we reach a large and diverse audience. Your support will help defray the costs of hosting a virtual event. We are offering sponsorship opportunities starting at $500 and going up to $2,500. We are more than happy to help customize your sponsorship as well.
About “Coming out of Isolation: Our Next Normal”
After a year in lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic, most Virginians are familiar with feelings of isolation. Isolation from friends and family. Isolation from coworkers. Isolation from teachers and classmates. Isolation from “normal” life. The pandemic’s toll on mental health will have some of the longest lasting and most dire consequences for Virginia, and for the country. Yet, for many individuals with behavioral health diagnoses, feeling isolated is nothing new. They are all too familiar with the sense of “otherness” created by the stigma associated with these diagnoses. Even among health care professionals, behavioral health is a field referred to separately from primary care or other specialties. The isolation of behavioral health is “normal.” As Virginia gradually lifts the lockdown restrictions, and as the health care community looks to the future of care, we cannot move backward. It’s time for the Next Normal. We envision the Next Normal as a Commonwealth in which we can collectively heal together. The Next Normal is the inclusion of behavioral health care needs in overall health care. It’s a space where we can admit and address the traumas of the last year and build individual and community resilience to emerge stronger than ever.
We have an inspiring lineup of local and national speakers, as well as multiple thought-provoking and interactive breakout sessions. You will not want to miss the opportunity to be part of this year’s Summit!
