Diversity

4.5 CE Credits - Member $90 | Nonmember $135

Target Audience: Neuropsychologists and trainees
Instructional Level: Intermediate

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The Diversity Collection includes the below webinars: 

 

Disparities in Sleep Health and Impact on Brain Health 

 

Azizi Seixas, Ph.D.
NYU Langone Health 
Department of Population Health
Department of Psychiatry





This course will cover sleep and brain health (mental health, cognitive, and neurodegenerative disease) disparities among subgroups, particularly racial/ethnic minorities. Additionally, biological, social, behavioral, and environmental factors that engender/maintain sleep and brain health disparities will be discussed. Mechanisms that explain the relationship between sleep and brain health will be discussed, particularly among racial/ethnic minorities. Lastly, the course will describe potential solutions to addressing sleep and brain health disparities.

After the session, participants will be able to:
1. Describe components of sleep health.
2. Explain how sleep health affects brain health.
3. Discuss mechanisms that explain how sleep health disparities lead to brain health disparities, particularly among racial/ethnic groups.

Health Disparities and Structural Racism: Assuring the Vital Future of Neuropsychology Through Evidence and Cultural Relevance

 

Mónica Rivera Mindt, Ph.D., A.B.P.P.-CN
Immediate Past-President, Hispanic Neuropsychological Society (HNS)
Professor of Psychology & Latin American Latino Studies Institute, Fordham University
Joint Appointment in Neurology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai





In the midst of the current COVID-19 and structural racism pandemics, the urgent need to understand and address the impact of health disparities and racism on neuropsychology and those we study and serve has never been clearer. Fundamental to this effort is disentangling the sociocultural and systemic factors (e.g., anti-Black racism; other forms of racism; sexism; homo- and trans-phobia; heteronormativity; ethnocultural monoculturalism; white privilege; outdated paradigms and training models; inertia) that actively contribute to the continued lack of progress in the field. There is now a sufficient body of available demographic and epidemiologic data and scientific evidence to collectively take an evidence-based, culturally-relevant approach to all aspects of neuropsychology, including science, practice, training, and policy. As a first step, this presentation will provide an overview of current demographic trends, sociohistorical and ethical considerations, and health disparities relevant to neuropsychological research and practice; offer a review of research on the effects of sociocultural factors on the brain and neuropsychological test performance; and provide approaches for implementing evidence-based, culturally responsive neuropsychological evaluations for research and practice with diverse examinees to improve diagnostic and health outcomes.

After the session, participants will be able to:
1. Describe current demographic trends, sociohistorical and ethical considerations, and health disparities relevant to neuropsychological research and practice.
2. Summarize research on the effects of cultural/linguistic diversity on the brain and neuropsychological test performance.
3. Discuss approaches for implementing evidence-based, culturally/linguistically responsive neuropsychological evaluations with diverse examinees to improve diagnostic precision and health outcomes.

Linguistically and Culturally Appropriate Evaluations for Bilingual Children

Vindia Fernandez, Ph.D.
Evelyn Ramirez-Coombs
Alberto Miranda, Psy.D.

Bilingual Latino/a children are rapidly becoming the majority among their peers in several states, increasing from 17% of all children in the US in 2000 to 25% of the pediatric population in 2016.  In densely populated states such as California, Latino children comprise more than half of the child population at 52%. Despite this increasing proportion of students, there remains a paucity of bilingual assessment tools, normative data, cohesive strategies amongst assessors, and bilingual pediatric neuropsychologists that together threaten the validity of assessments in this population (e.g., over- or under-identifying neurodevelopmental disorders). While many school districts have adopted careful guidelines regarding testing English learners in their native language, significant challenges remain with respect to determining the appropriate testing language in the school setting, as well as more broadly in the community and academic medical centers. This workshop will aim to explore these clinical decision points by examining the current literature on neurocognitive functioning in bilingual children, outlining typical bilingual language development trajectories, reviewing instrumentation for language assessment in bilingual children, and discussing limitations in the literature about language development in children with neurodevelopmental disorders. We will also present case studies to illustrate the many linguistic and cultural nuances of working with multicultural families and children, including evaluation of neuropsychological data summary sheets, provision of “mock supervision” on the conceptualization and formulation of bilingual cases, and discussion of effective treatment planning for this population. Emphasis is placed on academic-community and legal partnerships ensuring that the treatment planning is systematically implemented and monitored.

After the session, participants will be able to:
1. Describe current empirical findings regarding neurocognitive correlates of bilingualism in children. 
2. Implement specific strategies for determining language dominance in bilingual children. 
3. Discuss how the intersection between bilingualism and assessment strategy affects the validity of neuropsychological evaluations.
4. Evaluate the impact of culturally- and linguistically-appropriate evaluations on diagnosis and treatment planning through a case series discussion.

Dr. Seixas is recognized as one of the top 100 Inspiring Black Scientists in America by Cell Press.  He has over 100 high impact peer-reviewed publications, book chapters and conference presentations and his work appears in several media-outlets such as CBS, CNN, NBC, Associated Press, The Guardian, Huffington Post, and is the sleep expert for NBC Health News. He is currently the Chair for the American Academy of Sleep Medicine Young Investigator Research Forum, member of the Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning sub-committee for the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, serves on the NCAA and Department of Defense Task Force on mental health, and the Director of Early Career Faculty Development for the Department of Population Health at NYU Langone Health.

Dr. Rivera Mindt is a tenured Professor of Psychology and Latinx Studies at Fordham University with a joint appointment in Neurology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Her multidisciplinary, community-based research is funded by the National Institute of Health/National Institute of Aging and the Alzheimer’s Association and primarily focuses on the intersection between cultural neuroscience and health disparities across the lifespan. She has authored 80+ peer-reviewed publications and book chapters dedicated to three lines of inquiry, including: 1) the identification of resilience and modifiable factors to promote brain health in vulnerable and underserved populations; 2) how sociocultural factors impact the expression of neurologic disease, cognition, and health behaviors; and 3) the effects of sociocultural, behavioral, medical, and genetic factors on cognitive aging in older Latinx and Black adults. Her latest study is examining the roles of Alzheimer’s biomarkers, cerebrovascular, and sociocultural risk factors on brain integrity and cognitive functioning in older Latinx and Black adults.

Dr. Fernandez obtained her Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University of Houston where she studied pediatric neuropsychology and completed research on the neuroanatomical markers of dyslexia.  She completed her APA-accredited internship and postdoctoral fellowship at the UCLA Semel Institute.  Her specialty training includes working with children, adolescents, and young adults with neurodevelopmental issues including autism, epilepsy, ADHD, and learning disabilities as well as schizophrenia-spectrum disorders.  Dr. Fernandez has also worked closely with the UCLA PEERS Program and developed a passion for teaching social skills to neurodiverse youth.  In 2017, Dr. Fernandez founded the Center for Pediatric Neuropsychology in part to address the growing need for culturally and linguistically appropriate evaluations for Latino/a children.  She is an attending clinician and volunteer clinical faculty member in the UCLA Hispanic Neuropsychiatric Center of Excellence and collaborates with the Los Angeles Department of Mental Health on program development and training.

Alberto A. Miranda, Psy.D. is the chief postdoctoral fellow at UCLA”s Cultural Neuropsychology Program (CNP) within the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior. He received his B.A. in psychology and B.S. in biology through the University of California, Riverside, followed by his doctorate in clinical psychology through the American School of Professional Psychology (Argosy University). He completed his predoctoral internship at the Federal Correctional Institution, Terminal Island, and later postdoctoral training in neuropsychology at Fullerton Neuropsychology Services. He is currently in his second year of fellowship at the CNP where he has developed the expertise in assessing Spanish-monolingual and bilingual Latino/a individuals across the lifespan. He has worked under the direct clinical supervision of Drs. Xavier E. Cagigas and Paola A. Suarez, Co-Directors of the CNP and Associate Directors of UCLA's Hispanic Neuropsychiatric Center of Excellence. Through this experience he has gained mentorship and supervision in pediatric neuropsychology under Drs. Vindia G. Fernandez and Carlos Saucedo, attending clinical psychologists in pediatric neuropsychology.