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Conference

March 18, 2010

Ensuring Social Inclusion by Focusing on Personal and Community Wellness

Too often people living with mental illness are excluded from the community in which they live. Social inclusion is not just about having access though. It is about participation in the community, as employees, students, volunteers, teachers, carers, parents, advisors, residents; as active citizens. People experience exclusion in all aspects of life—social, economic, educational, spiritual, recreational/cultural, and health. As a result, we encounter high rates of poverty, unemployment, homelessness, early mortality, poor health, inadequate education and social isolation.

This conference will highlight how we can personally and professionally focus on the development of a socially inclusive framework so we create opportunities where people have equal access to opportunities in the community.

A social inclusion framework can also be an important community-based prevention approach for reducing the prevalence of mental and physical health problems.

The conference will feature sessions that highlight how we can ensure social inclusion by focusing on wellness in our working, living and learning communities. Workshops will focus on the dimensions of wellness: spiritual, physical, spiritual, emotional, social, intellectual, environmental, and financial.