Conferences

13th International Congress – ESCAP, Florence 2007

Bridging the gaps – Integrating perspectives in child and adolescent mental health

On August 25th-29th, 2007, the wonderful city of Florence hosted five days of discussions about the most important present and emerging topics in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.

This ESCAP Congress has been made by the work of each participant, clinician or researcher, working in the field of the welfare and mental health of children and adolescents. Each participant showed a genuine interest in developing a contemporary and appropriate culture for children, focused on the individual rights and environmental needs of each child. The advancements in neuroscience, as well as the growing imperative for evidence-based medicine have created dramatic, new challenges for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.

The Congress program was focused on developmental periods of childhood and adolescence, which was considered crucial for timely diagnostic evaluations and the implementation of effective treatments. By the same token, the Congress underscored the urgent need for timely interventions in order to also change long-term outcomes.

Major topics of the Congress included, among others, developmental neuroscience, assessment instruments, treatments and treatment effectiveness. Many other important issues were addressed at the highest scientific level, leaving space for discourse and learning for all attendees.

The complete program of the ESCAP Congress 2007

Dowload the English version of the Florence Declaration released as an outcome of this initiative

 

Introductory note by Prof. Ernesto Caffo, President of ESCAP and Congress President
We are pleased that you are joining us in Florence to address the contemporary challenges to Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.

During our time together, we hope to “bridge” widely disparate knowledge and disciplines by sharing models and developing integrated perspectives. Perhaps, the most demanding challenge will be to bridge the gaps between mind and body and between differing approaches and professions, to arrive at a common pathway for research and clinical practise. By the end of the Congress, we hope we will have enhanced our collective understanding of the causes and consequences of child and adolescent psychiatric illness, as well as how to evaluate, treat and prevent these illnesses effectively.

The content and your participation in the 13th International Congress of ESCAP offers great promise. We look forward to joining with you as we approach a new scientific and cultural approach for European Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.