PRE-CONGRESS COURSES, Tuesday, 6 July 2021

KYIV TIME 14:00-18:00 (CET 13:00-17:00)

Suicidal behaviour is the most common psychiatric emergency. A large proportion of suicidal behaviour can be prevented, particularly in cases associated with mental disorders. Early recognition of suicidality and reliable evaluation of suicide risk are crucial for the clinical prevention of suicide. Evaluation of suicidal risk involves assessment of suicidal intent, previous suicide attempts, underlying psychiatric disorders, the patients’ personality, the social network, and suicide in the family or among acquaintances as well as other well-known risk factors. Suicide risk assessment should take place on several levels and relate to the patient, the family and social network but also to the availability of treatment, rehabilitation and prevention resources in the community. As suicide risk fluctuates within a short period of time, it is important to repeat the suicide risk assessment over time in an emphatic and not mechanistic way. The suicidal person may mislead both family members and hospital staff, giving a false sense of independence and of being able to manage without the help of others. Although extreme ambivalence to living or dying is often strongly expressed by the suicidal individual, it is not seldom missed by others. If observed in the diagnostic and treatment process, dialogue and reflection on such ambivalence can be used to motivate the patient for treatment and to prevent suicide. If ambivalence and suicidal communications go undiscovered, the treatment process and the life of the patient can be endangered. Today, several measurement tools of suicide risk exist, including psychometric and biological measurements. Some of these tools have been extensively studied and measures of their sensitivity and specificity have been estimated. This allows for the formulation of an approximate probability that a suicidal event might happen in the future. However, the low precision of the predictions make these tools insufficient from the clinical perspective and they contribute very little information that is not already gained in a standard clinical interview. Psychiatrists and other mental health professionals have always longed for reliable and precise tools to predict suicidal behavior, which could support their clinical practice, allow them to concentrate resources on patients that really need them, and backup their clinical judgement, in case of eventual legal problems. In order to be useful, however, the approximate probability that a suicidal event might happen in the future is not sufficient to significantly change clinical routines and practices. These should rely on the available evidence base and always consider the safety of the patient as paramount.

KYIV TIME 09:00-13:00 (CET 08:00-12:00)

Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) is one of the most prevalent and most widely researched of all the personality disorders, yet it is often misunderstood and challenging with regard to diagnosing, treating, dealing with non-adherence and high risk behaviors. BPD is characterized by pervasive instability in moods, interpersonal relationships, self-image, and behavior.

In this workshop, participants will gain a more comprehensive and realistic understanding of the etiology and dynamics of Borderline personality, as well as characteristics and current assessment measures for BPD. Information about differential diagnoses, dual diagnoses and common comorbid disorders will also be presented. The leading treatment modalities and recovery framework will be discussed.

KYIV TIME 14:00-18:00 (CET 13:00-17:00)

This course aims to provide basic knowledge that every young psychiatrist should have to be prepared for the epidemic of 21st century- the increasing numbers of people living with dementia.

Developing the concept of dementia from the first descriptions in scientific literature, focusing on the work of Alois Alzheimer and the detailed description of the pathological hallmarks of the disease he gave, we will move to the very new insights science offers to explain still verry challenging and intrigue neurobiology of dementia. During the course, even though the focus will be on the most frequent dementia, Alzheimer’s disease (AD), participants will be familiarized with symptoms and clinical signs important to recognize other neurodegenerative forms of dementia like frontotemporal dementia and Lewy body dementia. An interactive part of the course will involve participants with voting session while discussing three case scenarios of the most typical clinical presentations of the neurodegenerative forms of dementia that they would easily recognize in clinical practice.

The third part of the course will stress the importance of early AD diagnose and the difference between Alzheimer’s disease and Alzheimer’s dementia, presenting the concept of AD continuum. The detailed diagnostic protocol in evaluating a patient with cognitive complaints will be presented, focusing on the importance of excluding reversible dementia, but also introducing the established and emerging biomarkers for Alzheimer’s disease.

After covering the topics of causes, symptoms, and diagnosis, we will discuss the treatment options for Alzheimer’s disease, both pharmacological and nonpharmacological, stressing the importance of having multi-professional teams involved in post diagnostic care for people living with dementia and their carers. With a person-centered approach, another interactive session will cover the behavioral and psychiatric symptoms of dementia and treatment/coping strategies.

At the very end, this course evolves to a higher level, for those interested in what future holds in the field of Alzheimer’s disease, the last lecture Alzheimer’s Disease-the story beyond amyloid is asking a lot of questions, discussing AD pathogenesis from different angles, enlightening the importance of neuroinflammation and its impact in developing new treatment strategies in near future.

KYIV TIME 09:00-13:00 (CET 08:00-12:00)

Course audience: The course is aimed at psychiatrists, psychologists and other professionals working in public health, mental health and general health facilities.

Description: Telepsychiatry (TP) is the documented e-Mental Health application. It is the use of videoconferencing in provision of mental health services at a distance. TP interventions increase access to mental health care, result in quality of care equivalent to in-person care, and sometimes reduce costs. It has been used with a variety of models of care with equally positive outcomes. Clinicians may use TP in private practice, community, government, academic and other settings with a wide range of populations (e.g., child/adolescent, geriatric, forensic, transcultural, primary care patients etc).

This course will provide participants with skills necessary to use telepsychiatry in order to provide the high qualified services on distance to a wide range of patient populations.

The goals of this course are to:

•      Review evidence-based TP clinical interventions.

•      Provide an opportunity to learn how to set up a standardized TP service:

            a) at the public (mental) health care institution(s)

            b) at patients own home

The faculty of the course will  provide: a historical overview of the use of TP; describe context necessary for the application of TP; refer to pittfalls in the use of TP and show how to avoid them in the different utilizations of TP (for detailed outline see below.

After the course the participants will be able to:

•       Combine in-person care with care provided using TP

•       Assess and deal with  privacy and other regulatory challenges realted to TP services

•       Access existing competency sets to acquire  skills, knowledge and attitudes needed for a successful application of TP

•      Apply TP in general practice, and in inpatient and outpatient mental health  services privat and public, respectivelly

Teaching methods: regular and interactive:

1.    Poll of needs of the audience.

2.    Didactic lectures

3.    Discussion of Case-based examples

4.    Discussion

5.    Questions and answers.

Course time: 3 hours

KYIV TIME 14:00-18:00 (CET 13:00-17:00)

Eating disorders are serious but treatable mental and physical illnesses that can affect people of all genders, ages, races, religions, ethnicities, sexual orientations, body shapes, and weights. While no one knows for sure what causes eating disorders, a growing consensus suggests that it is a range of biological, psychological, and sociocultural factors.

Eating disorders are serious, potentially life-threatening conditions that affect a person’s emotional and physical health.Getting a diagnosis is only the first step towards recovery from an eating disorder. Treating an eating disorder generally involves a combination of psychological and nutritional counseling, along with medical and psychiatric monitoring. Treatment must address the eating disorder symptoms and medical consequences, as well as psychological, biological, interpersonal, and cultural forces that contribute to or maintain the eating disorder.

In this workshop, participants will gain a more comprehensive and realistic understanding of the etiology and dynamics of  Eating disorders, as well as characteristics and current assessment measures for Eating disorders. Information about differential diagnoses, dual diagnoses and common comorbid disorders will also be presented. The leading treatment modalities and recovery framework will be discussed.