International Conference-2019

The Department of Social Work, St Joseph’s College (Autonomous), Bengaluru in association with School of Social Work, University of North Carolina Wilmington (UNCW), USA, organised a two-day international conference on the theme- Paradigm shift in a changing world order: health and rights on 10^th and 11^th December, 2019. Eminent speakers from social work and allied fields such as counselling, public health, medical science were present to share their ideas on the changing trends in health and rights. Dr. Arthur Frankel from UNCW during the inaugural ceremony opined that American social workers were mainly focusing on mental health and well-being and had done so for decades, whereas Indian social workers were focused on community development. Despite these differences in areas of focus, he said that social workers from both nations had more commonalities than differences in terms of issues faced such as poverty. Dr. Gifty Immanuel, a public health activist, elaborated on the public health challenges citizens around the world face due to the spread of various types of viruses. Dr. Harini Christopher examined the mental health act of 1987 and 2017 to understand the state’s stand mental health rights of citizens of the country. Dr. Augustine Lourdu, Assistant Professor, Department of Social Work, St Joseph’s College, presented his research work on social and cultural exclusion faced by HIV positive patients which he termed as triple exclusion. During the second half of first day, there were two panels of paper presentations where social work students and practitioners from various colleges and institutions participated. 

On the second day of the conference, Ms. Jacquline David, a senior counsellor from TTK hospital explained the current mental health infrastructure in India and its possibilities for development and wider access. In the panel discussion that followed, Dr. Satya Pal from Andhra University elaborated on health rights of Indigenous communities with focus on the handicaps of current public distribution system in the country. Dr. Benson Isaac, a professor at Azim Premji University, explained the concept of health workers in the country and extended the term to include every worker who works to ensure quality of life to citizens. Prof. YJ Rajendra, a senior faculty of Dept. of Social work, St Joseph’s College, presented his findings on medical mafia, the increasing levels of monetisation of medical health infrastructure in the country. Paper presentations and Poster presentations from students followed in the second half of the second day.  The two-day conference concluded with the valedictory ceremony and cultural events.