[SSR Conference 2024] Youth Mental Health Landscape: Upstream Prevention and Downstream Intervention
Download programme booklet here
Download conference proceedings here
Conference Theme
The theme of SSR Conference 2024 is youth and mental health. The conference aims to discuss antecedents, processes, and consequences of mental health conditions among youth, as well as explore both upstream preventions and downstream interventions to bolster mental health functioning among youths.
Guest-of-Honour: Dr Janil Puthucheary, Senior Minister of State (MOH)
Dr Janil Puthucheary, 50, was elected as a Member of Parliament in 2011. He is currently Senior Minister of State, at the Ministry of Communications and Information, and the Ministry of Health.
He is Minister-in-Charge of GovTech, the government technology agency, and a member of the Smart Nation Inter-Ministerial Committee. He chairs the Inter-Agency Task Force on Mental Health and Well-being and is a member of the Child and Maternal Health and Well-being Taskforce. He is also a member of the Ministerial Committee on Child Health and Development.
He is a member of the National Integration Council and an Advisor to Cyber Youth Singapore. As part of the People’s Association, he is a Board Member, Advisor to the PA Youth Movement, and Advisor to Narpani Peravai.
Introduction Speaker: Dr S Vasoo, Emeritus Professor (NUS)
S Vasoo is Emeritus Professor at the Department of Social Work, National University of Singapore. He obtained his Doctorate and Master of Social Work from the University of Hong Kong and holds a Diploma in Social Studies with distinction from the University of Singapore. He authored a number of monographs on social issues and has published various such articles both internationally and locally.
He was awarded the Honorary Life Member of the Singapore Association of Social Workers for his outstanding contributions to social work in Singapore. He was the Member of Parliament from 1984 to 2001 and he also served as Chairman of the Government Parliamentary Committee for Community Development. He is Advisor to a number of Voluntary Welfare Organisations in Singapore and is still actively involved in community development work and activities.
He was awarded the Distinguished Alumni of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, National University of Singapore as well as the Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Hong Kong. He was recently recognised with a Life Volunteer Award of Allkin (formerly Ang Mo Kio Family Service Centre).
Panel 1 — Risk and Protective Factors of Youth Mental Health Outcomes
What Ails Our Youth – A Psychosocial Perspective of Youth Mental Health
Assistant Chairman Medical Board
(Research), IMH Consultant,
Ministry of Health, Singapore;
Associate Professor, NUS Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health;
Associate Professor, NTU Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine
A/Prof Mythily graduated from the Lady Hardinge Medical College, India. She received her PhD in Gambling Studies from Monash University and is currently Assistant Chairman Medical Board (Research) and Lead Investigator of the Programme of Mental Health Policy Studies at the Institute of Mental Health (IMH). She also has a concurrent teaching appointment at the NTU Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine and the NUS Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health.
She has worked in the field of mental health for more than 15 years and her main academic and research interests include psychiatric epidemiology, psychosis and addictions.
Exploring the Intersections of Trauma, Adversity, and Youth Mental Health and Promising Protective Buffers
Assistant Professor,
Department of Social Work, NUS
Dr. Jungup Lee is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Social Work at the National University of Singapore. Her research seeks to refine the understanding of how adverse childhood events relate to subsequent behavioural and mental health outcomes for children and adolescents. Specifically, Dr. Lee’s research focuses on identifying multi-level risk and protective factors (e.g., family, peer, school, and community levels) that shape various patterns of externalizing and internalizing behaviours to facilitate the development of more effective intervention strategies for social workers providing services to children, adolescents, and young adults. Her research interests include cyberbullying, school violence and safety, child maltreatment, online harassment, technology-facilitated sexual misconduct, juvenile justice, and youth mental health and digital well-being.
Identifying Factors that Promote Long-term Recovery in Youth Mental Health
Research Specialist,
Translational Social
Research Division,
National Council of Social Service (NCSS)
Dennis Teo is a Research Specialist at the Translational Social Research Division, National Council of Social Service (NCSS). His current work with the Enhancing Positive outcomes in Youth and the Community (EPYC) team focusses on (a) understanding the changes that young offenders undergo upon entering the justice system and (b) estimating the effectiveness of intervention programmes aimed to rehabilitate these youths.
Moderator: Dr. Rayner Tan
Assistant Professor, NUS Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health and
National University Health System;
Visiting Research Fellow,
Infectious Diseases Research and
Training Office, National Centre for
Infectious Diseases, Singapore
Dr Rayner Kay Jin Tan is an Assistant Professor at the NUS Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health, and a Visiting Research Fellow at the National Centre for Infectious Diseases. His research focuses on the social determinants of health, implementation science, community engagement, and health equity of vulnerable communities. He is a lead at SG Mental Health Matters and a workgroup member of Project Hayat to develop a National Suicide Prevention Strategy in Singapore, as well as chairperson at a trauma and substance use recovery centre and charity, The Greenhouse Community Services Limited.
Panel 2 — Upstream Prevention:
Digital Initiatives and Peer Support for Youth Mental Health
Digital-First Approach to Empower Youth Mental Health: Case Study of mindline.sg
Deputy Director,
mindline.sg Programme,
MOH Office for
Healthcare Transformation
Janice Weng is a Deputy Director at the Ministry of Health Office for Healthcare Transformation (MOHT). She leads the digital mental health programme, focusing on designing and co-creating innovative digital solutions to improve the health and wellbeing of citizens. An award-winning initiative developed during the pandemic period is mindline.sg, an anonymous self-care and self-help therapy platform.
Prior to joining MOHT, Janice held leadership positions in consulting firms and led teams to deliver public policy and digital transformation projects for governments. She also has extensive experience in the human and social services sector, specialising in outcome measurement and nonprofit capacity building. Janice has a Master in Public Policy from the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy.
Digital Peer Support Training Intervention for Singapore Adolescent Mental Health
Research Fellow,
Social Service Research Centre,
Faculty of Arts and
Social Sciences, NUS
Dr Yeo Geck Hong is a Research Fellow at the Social Service Research Centre (SSR), NUS. She received her Ph.D. in Educational Psychology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her research program centers on the role of social contexts in adolescents’ development of psychological well-being. Informed by a contextually-rooted developmental model, her research emphasizes the role of contextual factors and the mechanism of change in psychological adjustment.
Digital Mental Health in Practice – What Have We Learned?
Assistant Director,
Youth Mental Health and
Volunteerism Capability,
SHINE Children and Youth Services
Mr. Eric Sng is currently overseeing Youth Mental Health & Volunteerism Capabilities at SHINE Children and Youth Services. A social worker by training, he has served in social services coming 15 years and have a range of experiences in youth development, diversionary, outreach and mental health work. He is passionate about pioneering new programmes or approaches to close service gaps and meet needs more effectively. He also enjoys developing the next generation of social service practitioners and is a social work seminar tutor, field educator and lecturer at the National University of Singapore.
Moderator: Dr. Serenella Tolomeo
Senior Scientist at the Social & Cognitive Computing Department,
Institute of High Performance Computing, A*STAR
Dr Serenella Tolomeo’s research focuses on determining psychological and neural mechanisms underlying mental health conditions. Her research goals integrate psychological medicine, cognitive neuroscience, neuroimaging and decision-making neuroscience measures. Her research career began with a BSc degree in Experimental Psychology from the University of Milano-Bicocca (Italy) and subsequently obtained a MSc in Clinical Psychology, Neuropsychology and Developmental Psychology at the University of Milano-Bicocca (Italy). She obtained her PhD in Medicine from the University of Dundee (UK) in 2020. She spent two years as a postdoctoral fellow at NUS conducting cognitive neuroscience and neuroimaging studies in mental health. She is currently a Senior Scientist at IHPC, A*STAR.
Panel 3 — Downstream Intervention:
Innovative Approaches in Addressing Youth Mental Health
Broken Crayons Still Colour: Development and Evaluation of a Psycho-Education Workshop Series
Co-founder,
School of Ability & Recovery (SOAR)
After earning her PhD from the University of Basel, Florence returned to Singapore and worked at the Institute of Mental Health (IMH) for 6 years. With her training from TCA College, she is currently practicing as a counsellor at a family service centre. In 2018, Florence co-founded a local ground up initiative, SOAR, to tackle the issue of stigma against people with mental health issues. Together with collaborators like Youth Corps, IMH and People’s Association, SOAR has co-produced more than 5 workshop series pertaining to mental health and reached more than 400 unique workshop participants. Florence is a SG Strong Fellow.
The Efficacy of Arts-Based Therapy Interventions for Children in Singapore
Clinical Supervisor,
The Red Pencil Singapore;
Owner and Director at
West East Pte. Ltd.
Daphna Arbell Kehila has over 20 years’ experience as Expressive Arts Therapist. Living and working in Asia Pacific region for more than three decades, Daphna has a deep understanding of multicultural experiences, which she integrates into her work with various populations and organisations globally. Her work with The Red Pencil Singapore—a charity-based NGO dedicated to bringing creative arts therapy to individuals, groups, and families in Singapore—focuses on developing therapy programmes for the local community and providing clinical supervision to art therapists.
Using Practice Research to Inform The Hidden Youth Intervention Programme
Senior Psychologist, REACH West,
National University Health System
Principal Research Executive,
Fei Yue Community Services
Assistant Senior Social Worker,
Fei Yue Community Services
Sonia is a clinical psychologist currently working with the Response, Early Intervention and Assessment in Community Mental Health (REACH) team at the National University Hospital. She completed her Masters of Clinical Psychology at the University of Melbourne. Sonia has experience working with children and adolescents with a range of mental health issues, including depressive disorders, anxiety disorders and autism spectrum disorder amongst others, and has been working with the hidden youth population for the past 4 years.
Denise is a Principal Research Executive at Fei Yue Community Services. She has 14 years of experience in the social service sector and has published research on topics such as complex trauma and child abuse. She has also supported the evaluation of over 40 programmes and services such as therapeutic groupwork programmes, the Hidden Youth Outreach Service, and community development initiatives. Denise holds a Masters in Social Science (Psychology) from the National University of Singapore, and has been teaching and conducting training at institutions such as the Social Service Institute and the Singapore University of Social Sciences since 2013.
Zoe is an assistant senior social worker at Fei Yue Community Services. She is currently leading the Integrated Service Provider (ISP) team and is also actively involved in macro social work relating to hidden youth in Singapore. Previously, Zoe was involved in portfolios in the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) relating to youth-at and in-risk. She was a probation officer and was subsequently involved in indirect social work practice such as operational policies relating to child welfare such as the Family Guidance Order. Zoe is presently pursuing her master’s in social work under the Ee Peng Liang Scholarship.
Moderator: Dr. Hana Alhadad
Adjunct Faculty,
National University of Singapore and
Singapore Management University
Dr Hana Alhadad is an adjunct faculty at the National University of Singapore and Singapore Management University, and a Senior Consultant at AWARE. Hana has extensive experience in community development and psychology, and is currently focusing on supporting neurodivergent children and families, single mothers and victim-survivors of family violence, and wellbeing of children and youth. Her current research interests covers equity-centred, trauma-informed education and practice, child and adolescent mental health, parent-child relationships and development.