Mental Healthcare Access in Missouri
Our May event focuses on mental health and the impact of policy on mental healthcare. We’ll also discuss how geography affects a Missourian’s access to mental healthcare. The roundtable discussion is from 3 pm to 4 pm CDT followed by a Zoom afterparty from 4 pm to 5 pm.
Read our primer for this roundtable!
Meet our Speakers
Patricia Alafaireet, PhD, MHA | University of Missouri School of Medicine
Dr. Patricia Alafaireet finds solutions that enable physicians and health providers to work more effectively. Dr. Alafaireet investigates how clinicians can most effectively use information technology to enhance their practice. Among other topics, she studies the factors that lead to mental health in-patient recidivism (return to care). Because one in four persons needing mental health services does not receive care, a better understanding of the set of circumstances leading to recidivism could contribute to clinicians’ ability to serve more individuals.
Elisabeth Condon | Missouri House of Representatives
Elisabeth Condon (she/her) is the legislative assistant to Rep. LaDonna Appelbaum, who serves as the ranking minority member on the House Health and Mental Health Policy committee. Elisabeth has served in the state legislature since 2017, first as an intern with Sen. Jill Schupp, then as a legislative assistant. She graduated from Truman State University with a B.A. in Political Science and is in the process of applying to graduate schools to pursue a Master’s in Public Health.
Xavier Ransome, MSHI, MHA | Government Employees Health Association
Xavier recently finished his dual master’s program and works as an Associate Data Analyst at the non-profit Government Employees Health Association where he analyzes population data in regards to healthcare. All of his work is aimed at using data and predictive analytics to assist the community to get the help they need when they need it. However, this work is not without its challenges – many doctors and healthcare providers don’t have the time or resources to report this data to scientists, such as counting the tattoo to tooth ratio.
Senator Greg Razer | Missouri General Assembly (D-07)
Greg Razer, a Democrat, is the State Senator for the 7th Senatorial District, serving a portion of Jackson County. He was first elected to serve in the Senate in 2020. Senator Razer previously served two terms in the Missouri House of Representatives. Prior to his legislative duties, Sen. Razer was the Deputy Regional Director for U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill from 2008-2016. Senator Razer graduated from Cooter High School (Cooter, Missouri) in 1996. He received his bachelor’s degree in history from the University of Missouri-Columbia in 2000. Senator Razer spent the first 18 years of his life being raised in Cooter, MO, and has made Kansas City his home since December 2001.