October saw Professor Keith Hawton (Centre for Suicide Research at the University of Oxford) and his team organise the annual British Isles Workshop: a programme of presentations on topical and emerging research on suicide and self-harm, along with opportunities for lively discussions.
The British Isles Workshop has been running for 27 years and has been complimented in recent years by collaboration with Dr Niall Boyce (Editor-in-Chief, Lancet Psychiatry) and colleagues to incorporate the Lancet Psychiatry Symposium. Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, for the first time, the workshop was organised online, with IASP’s Wendy Cliff providing technical wizardry. Although the advantages of personal gathering were missed by attendees, the online version of the event enabled active participation by many colleagues from different countries.
The first day of the workshop focused on the potential impact of the pandemic on suicide-related outcomes, and our 1st VicePresident Professor Jane Pirkis gave an opening keynote talk, providing a global perspective on suicides in relation to the COVID19 pandemic. The Co-Chairs of IASP Early Career Group, Caroline Daly, Olivia Kirtley, and Tiago Zortea also attended the workshop, where Caroline presented a national case fatality study of drugs taken in intentional drug overdose in Ireland. IASP would like to thank Professor Keith Hawton and Dr Niall Boyce for a fruitful and productive collaboration.
