18. Across the Divide: Building Bridges between Primary Care and Community Mental Health Providers with Dr. Zakia Alvi

In this episode, I invite Dr. Zakia Alavi, a child and adolescent psychiatrist and an assistant professor at Michigan State University who teaches medical students about the integration between basic and clinical sciences to the podcast. She has been providing psychiatric services to underprivileged children in Jackson, Michigan, and has published many peer-reviewed articles on psychopharmacology and polypharmacy.

Let’s listen to Dr. Alavi and learn more about building bridges between primary care and community mental health providers!

[00:01 – 06:02] Opening Segment

  • Welcoming today’s guest, Dr. Zakia Alavi
  • Her path to child and adolescent psychiatry
  • Touching one generation with one child

 

[06:03 – 16:12] Convincing Families

  • A supportive community mental health system
  • How to convince “professional” families to treat mental health
  • Building a two-way communication with children

 

[16:13 – 25:35] Building Networks and Relationships

  • Primary care providers shouldn’t go beyond their comfort level
  • Find out why
  • How can physicians make a change within their systems? 
  • The importance of network- and relationship-building 

 

[25:36 – 32:09] Creating a Safe Space for Children

  • Trust and comfort among children as priorities 
  • Mental health stigma during and after the COVID-19 pandemic

 

[32:10 – 41:53] Closing Segment

  • Dr. Alavi’s parting words
  • Trust the patients more
  • Final Takeaways
  • Connect with child psychiatrist
  • The importance of humility among child psychiatrists
  • Supportive systems in the community mental health world
  • Building relationships and work on a team 
  • Trust the system and the patient more
  • Sometimes, it’s better to not do anything 

 

Tweetable Quotes:

“If I can touch one life, one child, that’s like a whole generation. You can affect so many people by just touching one child’s life” – Dr. Zakia Alavi

“Remember that you work in a community. You’re not in a silo.” – Dr. Zakia Alavi

Resources Mentioned:

If you’d like to connect with me, you can find me at LinkedInFacebook, and Twitter or email me at [email protected]. To learn more about me visit https://www.medicalbhs.com/

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Dr Lia Gaggino

Dr. Lia Gaggino has worked as a pediatrician for over 30 years on the west side of Michigan. During her career as a primary care physician, she has been privileged to care for children and adolescents, and know that their success is closely tied to mental wellness.

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Dr. Lia Gaggino has worked as a pediatrician for over 30 years on the west side of Michigan. During her career as a primary care physician, she has been privileged to care for children and adolescents, and know that their success is closely tied to mental wellness.

Recent Episodes

  • All Post
  • ADHD
  • Advocacy
  • Aggression and Disruptive Behaviors
  • Anxiety
  • Autism
  • Building Better Workflows
  • Depression
  • Genetics
  • healthcare disparities and inequalities
  • LGBTQIA+
  • Medications
  • Mental Health
  • OCD
  • Other
  • Pain
  • Parent/child
  • Physician Well-Being
  • Schizophrenia
  • Sexual Trauma
  • Sleep
  • Social Media
  • Substance Abuse
  • Suicide Prevention
  • Trauma

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