Dr. Cindy-Lee Dennis

Mental Health Across the Perinatal Period: Ideas for Prevention and Treatment

Presenter: Cindy-Lee Dennis PhD, Professor and Canada Research Chair in Perinatal Community Health, University of Toronto and Women’s Health Research Chair, Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute, St. Michael's Hospital, Toronto ON

The mental health of women and their partners across the perinatal period is a major public health priority due to its significant cost to society. This presentation will review the prevalence for mental health conditions both antenatally and postnatally and effective strategies for identification. Diverse preventive interventions will be outlined based on the latest evidence and innovative treatment tools presented with a goal to improve ‘reach’. A new approach to the management of perinatal mental health will be introduced.

Learning Objectives

• Describe effective strategies for the identification of mental health conditions both antenatally and postnatally.
• Articulate interventions for the prevention of postpartum depression.
• Discuss treatment tools and approaches to improve access to effect care.

Dr. Cindy-Lee Dennis is a Professor in the Lawrence S. Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing and the Faculty of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto. She holds a Canada Research Chair in Perinatal Community Health and was recently appointed the Women’s Health Research Chair at Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute, St. Michael’s Hospital. She is currently the principal investigator of seven large, multi-site studies and is a co-investigator on twenty-four other research projects concerning maternal, paternal, and infant health outcomes. She holds over $23 million in funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and has over 175 peer-review publications. She is the lead author on eight Cochrane systematic reviews and has provided over 155 invited presentations.