Annie Harper, PhD
Annie Harper is a cultural anthropologist working in Yale University’s Department of Psychiatry. She researches how people with mental illness, including those with incarceration histories, cope with poverty and financial difficulties, and how to support them in this area. She is interested in addressing the social determinants of mental health, with a particular focus on understanding how the financial services and retail industries could better serve low income people generally, and people with mental illness and incarceration histories in particular. She was director of a National Institute of Mental Health funded mixed methods research study exploring the financial difficulties of low-income people with serious mental illness, and testing recovery oriented support interventions that maximize autonomy and independent management of finances. She has followed that up with research funded by the Social Security Administration exploring ways to improve and build on the representative payee program, and by the Fahs-Beck foundation to understand the financial services needs of the reentry population. She works closely with the City of New Haven and the broader community’s efforts to provide support to low income residents struggling with financial difficulties. She is a member of the Mayoral Financial Empowerment Commission and a founder member of the Connecticut Asset Building Collaborative.
Dr. Harper will discuss Financial & Mental Health on February 3, 2020 at St. Mary’s College of Maryland. This talk is open to the public, learn more and register at: https://moneymentalhealth.eventbrite.com