Welcome to the 21st WCP Virtual Congress Program Scheduling

One major way of early interventions in psychiatry is promoting mental health resilience in the face of adversities. This is especially relevant for the developing countries with acute shortage of human and infrastructural resources in the mental health sector. Families can be an important asset in such situations. It is envisaged that an integrated approach with combined focus on life skills education of the children and adolescents, along with enhancing the resilience of their families, can be an innovative early intervention in mental health. This is the vision of the FRAMERS study (Family Resilience and Mental Well-Being: Enhancing resilience and mental health of children and adolescents through integrated school and family based approaches), the beginning of a multinational multidisciplinary collaboration funded by the Global Policy Institute at Queen Mary University, London, England. The Chair of the Symposium, Professor Debasish Basu, from PGIMER, Chandigarh, India, will lay down the rationale, evolving methodology in the face of multiple challenges occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic, acceptability and feasibility parameters of the FRAMERS study. Dr Victoria Mutiso, clinical psychologist at the Africa Mental Health Research and Training Foundation, Nairobi, Kenya, will present the Kenya component of the FRAMERS study, focusing on the challenges and opportunities faced while developing the FRAMERS Study, and its potential for building a resilient future. Dr Sugandha Nagpal, Assistant Professor at O.P. Jindal Global University, Sonipat, India, will present the challenges and opportunities faced while developing the FRAMERS Study India component, the current status, and the way ahead.