
Ideagen Radio
Ideagen Radio
2025 Future of Summit: Mental Health for All: Breaking Barriers with Dr. Hodzic
What does it take to transform mental healthcare for millions? Dr. Hodzic of the American Psychiatric Association Foundation offers a vision where mental wellness is accessible to all, regardless of background or location.
The conversation opens with a compelling exploration of mentorship's power in psychiatry. "Having leaders and mentors that they can see actually doing the work is really important for our young people," Dr. Hodzic explains, highlighting how visible role models help future generations envision themselves in mental health careers. This representation matters tremendously in a field often overlooked by students considering healthcare pathways.
At the heart of mental health equity lie multifaceted challenges - from provider shortages in both rural and urban settings to persistent stigmas preventing people from seeking help. Dr. Hodzic's background in emergency psychiatry offers unique insights into these barriers. Working in high-risk, fast-paced environments taught her to assess information quickly while maintaining compassion when faced with profound human suffering - skills that now inform her leadership approach managing over 200 fellows.
Perhaps most fascinating is the discussion around generational trauma's biological impacts. "Trauma does actually change your body. It changes the way that your DNA actually functions," Dr. Hodzic reveals, explaining how traumatic experiences alter gene expression patterns that can be inherited. Psychiatry offers unique opportunities to address these cycles by bringing multiple generations together for healing work that impacts not just current patients but future generations.
Technology emerges as a powerful force for expanding access. From telehealth reaching previously underserved communities to AI algorithms analyzing social media patterns to predict relapses, innovation is revolutionizing care delivery. The Foundation's Mental Health Care Works campaign further builds on these advances, spreading awareness that mental health conditions are common, treatable, and that care is accessible.
The conversation concludes with practical wisdom through the Notice-Talk-Act framework - a simple yet profound methodology helping people identify concerns early through normalized conversations. As Dr. Hodzic emphasizes, "Mental health is really a societal issue... how can we all partner together to create a mentally healthy nation for all?"
Ready to be part of the solution? Visit apaf.org to discover how you can contribute to building a more compassionate, accessible mental healthcare system for everyone.
Welcome to the IdeaGen Global Future Summit. Here live at the NED in Washington DC, Incredibly honored to have with me Dr Hodgik from the American Psychiatric Association Foundation. Dr Hodgik, welcome. Thankiatric Association Foundation, Dr Hodgik welcome.
Speaker 2:Thank you, it's a pleasure to be here.
Speaker 1:You know, I'm so familiar with the work that you do and it's so critical, especially at this time, and in addition to that you have a new role which actually focuses heavily on fellowships, mentorship and medical education. Dr Hodgick, how do you see mentorship shaping the future of psychiatry and mental health leadership?
Speaker 2:So I think mentorship is really important in any field, but particularly the health sciences, since there are so many subdivisions you can really go into. With psychiatry in particular, a lot of folks don't really think about it as a career option. So having leaders and mentors that they can see actually doing the work, I think is really important for our young people. I've had a range of mentors myself and you learn different things from each one and really piece together what you would like to see yourself doing in the future. So I think the first component of it is just raising awareness of what are options. So whether that's psychiatry, a different health care field, being aware of what you can do but then also seeing the people who are doing it that you can relate to, that you can see yourself. Oh, in a couple of years I could be doing this.
Speaker 1:That's right, and you know, being able to vision that is so critical, and so health equity mental health equity is a critical theme for this summit. What are the biggest challenges?
Speaker 2:and opportunities that you see in expanding access to quality mental health care, especially among underserved communities. So access, I think there are a lot of different angles you can look at it from. So one can be the actual providers. So do we have clinicians in the areas that we need them to be in? So there's a huge shortage of healthcare providers all across the country. But that is different in different regions, right, so it's not necessarily okay. Inner city, maybe there's a lack there. It can also be rural, so the next provider is over a hundred miles away. So we definitely have first that basic of is there a clinic there?
Speaker 2:And with some of the underserved populations it can be a challenge because sometimes when people are creating clinics, setting up where they're going to be there may be perceived visions of maybe the clinic will be more successful in a different setting. So they're still not being placed in the areas that need them. Then you can think of it from the actual population perspective and some of the biases that are still out there. So people not really wanting to seek mental health treatment, thinking that maybe they want it, but their family members, the people around them, they're gonna look down on them for getting care. So we have to battle those things. And then there's also very real access issues in terms of maybe people don't have transportation, so there is a clinic that's five miles away.
Speaker 1:How do you get to it? One of the things about IdeaGen Global is that we are focused on cross-sector collaboration, and have been since the inception of this company Between healthcare technology, education policy, etc. How can we help to break down barriers in mental health treatment and innovation?
Speaker 2:So I think that education is the key part of all of that, because all those areas you really need the education piece to disseminate information. So technology is the one that will bridge the gap between what healthcare needs and, for example, you know, the advocacy piece, the policy makers getting it in front of people who make decisions. So getting them educated, getting the public educated. So so I think technology can be very powerful in getting these messages out, but the core is really education making people aware that awareness is critical, and I know how much you all are doing at the American Psychiatric Association Foundation.
Speaker 1:It's just awe-inspiring, to be honest, and you have a strong background in emergency psychiatry and crisis services. How have these incredible experiences influenced your approach To what we talked about? Education and leadership development?
Speaker 2:So emergency services are very acute settings. It's very high risk, very fast paced, so you have to really learn to assess information and think quickly so you're not just blindly making decisions. You are actually going through the process of triage, making decisions, making a sound decision, but doing it in a rapid pace. It's also an environment where you're really seeing people that are dealing with a lot of different emotional issues. You're seeing the most severe suffering humanity knows and being able to compassionately deal with that situation while sticking to that kind of fast-paced timeline. So I think that teaches you a lot of different skills about people management. But also, you know every setting that I've worked in has really been a teaching hospital. So how do you still also do the teaching, the training, so finding moments and right now I oversee over 200 fellows so there is a limited amount of time that we can have contact. So how do you make the most of that?
Speaker 2:I think the other important piece is that an emergency room is really a team environment, so different than maybe a psychiatrist who's working by themselves in an outpatient setting. This is really a true team approach and you are the leader of that healthcare team. So you have nurses, social workers, obviously the trainees and students, occupational therapists, different substance counselors, so you're really managing all of that and making sure that your team is on point with the same goal. So the same kind of approach you have to take in some of the leadership goals it's, it's just incredible.
Speaker 1:And that team approach in 200 people, 200 fellows, that's not easy to manage, is it no? So this summit emphasizes inclusion and general generational uh equity, uh equity. How can the psychiatric field better serve diverse populations across?
Speaker 2:different generations. So, as I mentioned earlier, there are a lot of underserved populations and with our training programs we really try to expand access and opportunity to everyone across the country. A lot of our programs have at least 35, if not over 40 different states represented different environments, different cultures, different ethnic backgrounds. So we try to create a diverse workforce and what we're really battling is generational trauma.
Speaker 2:So, psychiatry does have a bit of a dark history, with many populations that still have a bias towards us. So you know you can look at racial differences but also individuals with disabilities. So there is still that fear of seeking help. And having providers who are familiar with those populations is going to be beneficial to everyone, since they will help increase that awareness and I think the really unique position of psychiatry, with kind of generational trauma and being able to change that is. So just to kind of go back with generational trauma, you can think of it as some of those historical traumas that have happened and have been kind of passed on.
Speaker 2:But trauma does actually change your body. It changes the way that your DNA actually functions. So traumatic experiences can shape how genes are turned on and off and that can be passed down by generations. But also if you are, let's say, a mother who has had a trauma, you may be having different mental health issues. Let's say you're more depressed and absent. Your child is not going to have the same care that if mom was not depressed. So in that instance it's not only kind of the true genetic component but also the environment that's going to shape that next generation and how they're going to live their lives and parent in the future as well. So psychiatry has the potential of you can actually get the two generations together in a room. You can do therapy with these individuals family therapy and really try to improve their relationship, potentially heal both and have an impact on future generations interesting, but you said something I really wasn't aware of.
Speaker 1:So there's a genetic component to all that in terms of like passing it down. So when one, one generation actually experiences a trauma and whatever, whatever they, you know, say, the World War II generation went through that trauma. So they would pass on.
Speaker 2:Most of it is actually done through the modifier, so it's the pieces that control which genes are turned on and off. So it'll signal to the DNA like hey, actually you need to be on high alert. So those individuals will end up being more anxious.
Speaker 1:Got it. Got it so interesting. So we'll be talking a lot about AI today and just something that I think is ubiquitous with a lot of the folks that we deal with every day with IdeaGen, and I know, I know that your leadership, including yourself, are focused on AI and utilizing these tools to help better serve the people that actually need the assistance, in whatever way that is. And so what role does AI, does innovation, does all of this play in what you're doing to help serve so many people, from teenagers to elderly folks that have mental health issues?
Speaker 2:So I mean AI. There's no way of getting around it. It's our future, it's more. How do we actually navigate it? And I think with healthcare you do have to tread carefully. But there are definitely advances on both the clinician side, but then on the actual individual and patient side. So, for example, I mean it's been probably a decade that most places have switched over to electronic medical records and now there are a lot of cooperative agreements where if you were, let's say, being seen regularly in Maryland, you go to vacation somewhere else in the US, they may have an agreement that that doctor can pull up those records and so you end up in an emergency room in a different state. They can still see what you're dealing with. I think the innovation there.
Speaker 2:Doctors really struggle with how long it takes to do these notes.
Speaker 2:So how do we make that more streamlined? Because the less time you're doing notes, the more time you can spend with an individual patient or the more patients you can see. On the patient side, I mean telehealth has been huge and great in providing access really to places that didn't have it before, but also some of the apps where people can track their mood, track symptoms, help with reminders for medications. I think there's also a whole range of what is going to be more kind of the preventative portion and what can be sent back to the doctor to review before someone relapses. So I mean I'm sure there are way more advances now, but even I'd say about five years ago I actually worked with the researchers at the Maryland Psychiatric Research Center on a study where they were looking at some of those social media posts and if you can look at some of the language there to predict how someone was doing and if they were headed for a relapse they were going to come psychotic so that was five years ago.
Speaker 2:Can you imagine what it's like today that?
Speaker 1:is is incredible. It's incredible to hear because, like, even with a pitch for the whoop and I'm not a this is a whoop device you ever hear this?
Speaker 2:thing.
Speaker 1:Actually, I have it tracks everything that you do, your sleep, your, you know movements, your even tells you what time to go to sleep and whether you recovered from that sleep.
Speaker 1:So pitch for the whoop there, because I think it's helpful to understand what, what, uh, even your resting heart rate, which is kind of cool. Um, so the next generation of psychiatrists and mental health professionals how will they, and how will you and your team and the infrastructure around the American Psychiatric Association Foundation, help to tackle all of these evolving challenges in mental health, including what you alluded to earlier? But we didn't say the word stigma and resource limitations? And I want to also put a finer point on what you said earlier, which is the notion of telemedicine and telehealth. You know, I wish, when I was, you know, a little bit younger, with younger kids, that we had telehealth and the doctor could pop up on your phone when the kid one of them had an ear infection, instead of going to the doctor's office with all the other sick kids, you know, and then if you weren't sick, you'd get sick that you could just figure it out with a telemedicine and not disrupt your entire day too.
Speaker 1:So, how are you dealing with all of this change and how are you tackling all these challenges?
Speaker 2:So I'll start with the foundation goals as a whole. So we have a three-year strategic plan and the main part of that is what we call the Mental Health Care Works campaign. So this is really a positive mental wellness PSA campaign where we're trying to just raise awareness that mental health conditions are common. Trying to just raise awareness that mental health conditions are common, that they're treatable and that there is access to care available. So we have a number of personas that are based on real individuals and the stories that they shared with us and those. We have different formats whether it's video or static image that we can share to try to just get the message across about some of the more common issues depression, anxiety, alcohol use disorder or some of our popular ones. So really getting the message across. And it's also one of those things where we're trying to emphasize that no matter where you go in the healthcare system, that is the right place to start. You don't have to necessarily start trying to get to a psychiatrist, right.
Speaker 1:That's an interesting point you want to expand upon that, because I find that really fascinating, because I think a lot of the stigma and the issues around mental health are oh, I've got to go to a psychiatrist because I'm having a challenge or whatever. But you can go to your pastor, your priest, your rabbi you know whoever it is and have a conversation. And the other thing that Raul Andres Jr, your executive director, talks a lot about is you know, when you see someone, you ask them, for example, how are you doing?
Speaker 1:And rather than saying I'm good they say well, I'm OK, and that's a. That's a trigger for you to be like well, what do you mean by that? And that's a trigger for you to be like well, what do you mean by that? Or how can you?
Speaker 2:maybe you can be there to listen a little bit more and not overlook what someone's going through, because everybody goes through something.
Speaker 2:It yes A lot of our programs are based on this. So, for example, the schools and justice team. They have a Notice Talk Act at school training, and so that's meant for all school staff to learn how to actually communicate with students, get some of these mental health issues really brought up, how to have these conversations but then also refer them to care appropriately. Similarly, our Center for Workplace Mental Health has the same type of framework, but for a work environment and in development is actually for faith and that they will be able to use the same framework because there's already a faith guide for our leaders in different religious sectors that they can use to be more aware of mental health issues and recognize when they do need to refer out, but really more of trying to formalize that into a training.
Speaker 1:And notice talk acts, so play it out for a moment. So how does it work?
Speaker 2:So the first piece is to notice. So are there changes that you're noticing in someone? So if you're a teacher and you know this is someone who comes to class on time pretty much every day, and then all of a sudden you know back to back there are a couple of days that they're not coming into school, so it's really you've noticed that there's a change. Now you have a conversation where you're not attributing anything of why this is happening, you're just going to the student and saying what you pointed out. So hey, I noticed that the past three days in a row you've been late. Can you tell me what's going on with that? And they'll give you an answer, whether it's, you know, actually the truth or not. It may take a couple times, but just noticing those patterns and just opening the conversation. And then in the training there's some more motivational interviewing techniques and things you'll get into.
Speaker 2:But if they do decide that this is someone that you know just needs to have a conversation, is it something that we need to bring back to parents, social work or what have you, or is this an actual mental health concern that we have to get professional?
Speaker 1:Which is the act part. Yeah, that's profound and I think for the audience, for the millions of people who watch this globally, I think there's an opportunity really to think about the simplicity of that but, at the same time, the overall impact. I mean, we're all going through life and we're moving, at whatever speed, but yet, you know, take a moment, you know if you're talking to a friend or a colleague or someone and say you know how are you doing? You know you notice a difference or something going on, and I think that that makes an incredible difference as to whether or not that person ends up in the emergency room or perhaps not. Right? And the other thing again that I really love about what you all are doing is you're saying you're taking away the stigma and you're saying you can talk to a friend, you can talk to a coach, you can talk to your pastor rabbi, you can talk to your pastor rabbi, whoever it is that you look up to or have a good relationship with and address any challenges that you're having without the stigma of whatever that may be, and you're removing these stigmas. So thank you for that.
Speaker 1:In terms of initiatives and programs within the APA Foundation, what are you most excited about. I mean, there are so many, but let's just talk about a few. What is that program? We've talked about a few already. What wakes you up in the morning, you know, like the whoop and says I'm so excited to do this today.
Speaker 2:Well, the main thing that I work on is the fellowships and other awards that we have, and for over 50 years we've had different fellowships in the foundation and there are nine different opportunities, as I mentioned, 200 fellows. But what I'm really excited about is last year we launched a program that we call PASS Psychiatry Ambassadors and Student Scholars. So these are opportunities for medical students and other residents to really come join us at annual meetings. So our annual meeting has over 500 scientific sessions, access to all the leaders that they can kind of think of, so providing the opportunity for medical students who are, you know, at that point in quite a bit of debt, to be able to travel and come to our annual meeting and come to our annual meeting and at the same time we teach them about the work the foundation does in our different programs and involve them when we're doing local activities as well.
Speaker 1:You know that's incredible and you're dealing with it. And so let's talk about you. How do you personally stay grounded and maintain wellness? I mean, you're moving at warp speed and you're helping all of these fellows 200 fellows. You're dealing with real life situations and, at the same time, you're trying to help build this infrastructure of individuals that can help millions of people. I mean, it's a big burden but a big opportunity and, I'm sure, something you're inspired by every day. And so, yeah, how are you doing that in such a demanding and vital field? Like, what is your secret?
Speaker 2:Most people, I think, really learn during residency training how to start balancing some of these things, especially in psychiatry that can be very emotionally taxing. So the first piece I would just point out is really kind of boundaries, so between work and home. The next is human connection and again I want to highlight two different pieces of that. So one, my own mentorship. So it's always good to turn to people that you know and trust, that have done similar things and can give you perspectives on the issues that you've encountered. But then it's also really wonderful to have just other people in your life to talk about non-work things. So those are kind of the two key pieces. Um, the other thing is just, you know, doing the best that you can in terms of, uh, healthy living, so sleep, exercise, diet, um, hobbies uh, I really like to travel. I think Raul will tell you.
Speaker 1:Raul will tell you Right, but that keeps you excited, that keeps you and it changes the scenery. And it changes, you know, gives you new perspectives.
Speaker 2:So I'm a big proponent of a change of scenery. I'm not someone that can just sit for hours at a desk, so even if it's a five minute break, go outside, get some fresh air. Fresh air, come back, do you think that's for everybody?
Speaker 1:yes, yes, even if someone's sitting on the floor of the stock exchange and they're, that's their job, they and they love it. What if they love it and they want to be there all day and they just don't want to go outside?
Speaker 2:still, periodically you need to take breaks and you know whether that's just getting up and moving or that kind of change in scenery, getting away from noise. Your mind is going to be a little bit more refreshed. A lot of things are really going to be based in mindfulness and just being present in that one moment, not worrying about the past, not worrying about the future. But where am I right now?
Speaker 1:Love it, because, after all, my motto is life is just a series of moments, and how do you want to spend those moments? And so, speaking of moments, what is your final call to action? Your call to action to individuals that have listened, have been inspired and maybe want to help in some way. How can they find out more? What's your call to action? What would you say?
Speaker 2:So first I'd start with Mental Health Care Works. You can learn more about that campaign on our website, but it is something that, whether it's for yourself or someone that you know, getting people connected to the care that they need is really important. I think it's not a clinical issue just mental health, is really a societal issue and tackling it from a number of different ways. You were mentioning innovation, ai, like how can we all partner together to create a mentally healthy nation for all? And finally, just if you're a leader, lead with purpose.
Speaker 1:Lead with purpose. There's one thing I don't want to leave aside because it's kind of personal to me. I think about the technology piece, because we didn't talk about the other side of technology and teenagers and some statistics that have startled me for several years now. And is there, do you see, something that will help address that mental health issue, starting with COVID, into technology et cetera, for all these young people? I mean, it's just so definitely.
Speaker 2:You know, the youth mental health crisis was there before COVID and expanded profoundly with COVID, but that kept people at home and a lot more people turned to social interactions on social media and so really we're looking at how is that impacting the youth? You know, yes, there are positives to social media, but if you think about cyber bullying and you know if you're in a school it's contained sort of to that environment. Now it's 24-7. Someone can kind of contact you. So that is sort of early stages that we're working with partners, including the DC office of the Attorney General. They have their own campaign and we're trying to figure out with them how to best communicate some of these concerns.
Speaker 1:Fantastic so websites. So American Psychiatric Association Foundation.
Speaker 2:APAForg.
Speaker 1:And the mentalhealthcareworksorg.
Speaker 2:Correct, dr. Hodgick thank you, thank you.