American Association for Community Psychiatry 2024 Poster Presentation Reflection

In our efforts to support mental health initiatives and highlight the psychiatric programs and scholarships offered by our partners, PRMS is pleased to feature the winner of the American Association for Community Psychiatry (AACP) 2024 Poster Contest in the category of Health Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Services, Dr. Amy Cheung, a third-year psychiatry resident at Yale Medical School. Dr. Cheung shares more about her time attending the 2024 Mental Health Services Conference and highlights her poster. PRMS is delighted to support AACP’s awards and provide opportunities for AACP members to further their education and research efforts.

Dr. Amy Cheung presenting her poster at the 2024 Mental Health Services Conference

At the 2024 Mental Health Services Conference in Baltimore, MD, last September, I attended a variety of sessions, met conference goers and presenters, and spent time with amazing co-residents as well as current and past members of the Yale Public Psychiatry Fellowship. Sessions on the justice system, brief action planning, the youth mental health crisis, and lifestyle psychiatry resonated deeply with my own work.

The Highlighting Food4Thought: A Community-Based Nutrition Program

This conference, focused on systems-level strategies to improve health service delivery, was the ideal platform to showcase Food4Thought, a program I co-developed during medical school and continue to facilitate in residency. My poster presentation focused on manualizing the curriculum, which was a collaborative effort involving residents, medical students, clinical dieticians, and participants with lived experience. This manual allows us to sustainably bring nutrition education and practice kitchen skills directly in the community, like in clubhouses and group homes. It’s a unique opportunity for trainees to engage with our neighbors with mental illness outside of a clinical setting and understand their lives more holistically.

Voices from the Field: Facilitator and Participant Testimonials 

The program’s impact is reflected in the experiences shared by facilitators and participants. 

From facilitators:

• “Having the opportunity to cook meals and engage in meaningful conversations about nutrition made my role as a module leader for the nutrition program exceptionally rewarding. This experience enhanced my medical education by highlighting the importance of community-driven health initiatives and meeting people where they’re at.”
• “I really valued my time helping with the nutrition program. My favorite part of the program was interacting with the participants. We had a lot of fun playing different nutrition-themed games, and it was rewarding to see how much they enjoyed our healthy recipes.”

From participants:

• “I like the recipes. I physically can't do cooking anymore because of my hands. I'm doing those frozen [yogurt bars]. The next day those were good.”
• “I think everything was just good. [The program] gave us something to do too.”

The Advocating for Community Mental Health Through Public Psychiatry

This focus on public and community psychiatry is why I joined the AACP in 2022. Much of my work and advocacy centers on my local community, and I greatly appreciate the vibrant perspectives that members of AACP offer when discussing issues relevant to the communities they care for.

Psychiatry is the field of medicine where building relationships, understanding the landscape of available resources, and getting to know our patients beyond their diagnoses hold incredible value. Every person we meet has their story to tell and I feel privileged every single day to be part of their care team. My current career plan is to work in a community-based health center affiliated with an academic institution, integrating sustainable services for mental and physical health as well as mentoring trainees.

Lastly, I want to thank PRMS for supporting the conference and poster presentations like mine. We’re excited to continue Food4Thought in New Haven, CT, where we have expanded the program to young adults and adults with intellectual disability or autism spectrum disorder living in residential programs.

Wishing you all healthier eating!

If you have any questions or are interested in receiving a quote, contact PRMS at (800) 245-3333 or TheProgram@prms.com.