Suicide-Related Research in Canada: A Descriptive Overview
Please note that this document was published by Health Canada
prior to the announcement of the establishment of the Public Health Agency of Canada
on September 24, 2004. Any reference to Health Canada should be
assumed to be to the Public Health Agency of Canada. |
A background paper prepared for the
Workshop on Suicide-Related Research
(Montréal: February, 2003)
Jennifer White, M.A., Ed.D.
Provided by:
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Center for Research and Intervention on Suicide and Euthanasia |
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Acknowledgements
Sincere thanks to the following researchers who took the time to review
drafts of this document:
- Dr. Roger Bland
- Ms. Gina Girard
- Dr. Michael Kral
- Dr. Antoon Leenaars
- Dr. Alain Lesage
- Dr. Paul Links
- Mr. Tom Lips
- Dr. Catalina Lopez de Lara
- Ms. Allison Malcolm
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- Dr. Brian Mishara
- Dr. Barbara Paulson
- Dr. Isaac Sakinofsky
- Dr. Monique Séguin
- Ms. Bronwyn Shoush
- Dr. Michel Tousignant
- Dr. Gustavo Turecki
- Ms. Gayle Vincent
- Mr. Gregory Zed
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Their comprehensive commentary, experience and insights were invaluable
in the preparation of this paper.
This paper was originally developed and presented as a background information
piece for the Workshop on Suicide-Related Research, held February 7 -
8, 2003 in Montréal, Québec. It was adapted from an original
paper prepared by Jennifer White, EdD, for the Mental Health Promotion
Unit of Health Canada. Based on feedback provided by workshop participants,
this document was further reviewed and revised by the Canadian research
community.
Final revisions and updating of this document were coordinated by the
Centre for Suicide Prevention in Calgary, with support from the Centre
for Research and Intervention on Suicide and Euthanasia in Montréal.
A bibliography of Canadian suicide research references has been appended
to this document. Further, an updated bibliography, developed by the Centre
for Suicide Prevention and the Centre for Research and Intervention on
Suicide and Euthanasia, has been developed for Health Canada, and appears
as a separate document. Together, the two bibliographies provide a gateway
to research on suicide in Canada published during the period 1985 through
2003.
The views in this paper do not necessarily reflect official policy of
the workshop co-hosts: the Mental Health Promotion Unit of Health Canada
or the Institute of Neurosciences, Mental Health and Addiction of the
Canadian Institutes of Health Research.
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Table of Contents
Parameters
- 10th Congress of the International Association
for Suicide Prevention, 1979
- Canadian Task Force Reports on Suicide, 1987
and 1994
- Canadian Association for Suicide Prevention
- L'Association québécoise de suicidologie
- Crisis Line Network
- United Nations Conference in Calgary, 1993
- Combined Meeting of the International Association
for Suicide Prevention, The Canadian Association for Suicide Prevention,
the Québec Association of Suicidology and Suicide-Action Montréal,
1993
- Choosing Life: Special Report on Suicide Among
Aboriginal People, 1995
- International Francophone Suicide Prevention
Congress, 2000 and 2002
- First International Conference on Innovative
Practices in Suicide Prevention, 2004
- France-Québec Collaboration
- Survivors/Bereavement Groups
- Research Units
- The Center for Research and Intervention on Suicide and Euthanasia
- Arthur Sommer Rotenberg Chair, University of Toronto
- McGill Group for Suicide Studies, Montréal
- Fernand-Seguin Research Centre, Montréal.
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Introduction
The purpose of this paper was to review and describe the range of suicide-related
research currently being undertaken in Canada. It was originally prepared
as a background document for the Workshop on Suicide-Related Research
held in Montréal in February, 2003. This workshop was organized
to enable researchers, suicide prevention experts, and other key interest
groups and organizational representatives to discuss the creation of a
national suicide prevention research agenda. This national agenda will
contribute to the development of a clear and empirically sound evidence
base as a foundation for the everyday practice of suicide prevention,
including policy development, program planning, education, community development,
and clinical interventions.
Many provinces and communities across Canada are actively involved in
advancing the suicide prevention agenda, typically through some combination
of education, skill development, advocacy, crisis response, prevention
programs, bereavement support, and clinical services. In addition, many
individual researchers and research teams are contributing to the existing
knowledge base in suicide prevention in important ways.
However, apart from the efforts of the Canadian Association of Suicide
Prevention (CASP), which exists to advocate for the prevention of suicide
at the national level, there is currently no coordinated, national effort
in place to link various local and provincial work, nor is there any formal
national mechanism to enable researchers in this area to communicate effectively
with front-line practitioners, policy-makers, medical staff, or community
leaders. At the same time, recognition has been growing over the past
few decades among many industrialized countries that the prevention of
suicide and suicidal behaviour, and the minimization of suffering experienced
by those who are bereaved by suicide, is an important national endeavour
(Ramsay and Tanney, 1996).
Parameters
The objectives of this paper are:
- to provide a descriptive overview of the range of suicide-related
research currently being undertaken in Canada
- to set the stage for further dialogue regarding the development of
a national research agenda.
Questions addressed in this paper include: What is the overall scope
of suicide-related research being done in Canada? Who is conducting it?
From which locations are these research endeavours being pursued? What
are the potential links that exist across research projects? What are
the implications of this work for policy and practice?
For the purposes of this paper, the review of "suicide-related research"
refers to systematic and scholarly inquiries that pertain to suicide and
suicidal behaviours, across academic disciplines and spanning a range
of research traditions, with two specific exceptions:
- First, studies examining euthanasia and assisted suicide are not
included, even though it is recognized that many significant contributions
to this particular literature have been made by Canadian researchers
(Mishara, 1999).
- Second, studies that explicitly address self-mutilatory behaviours
are excluded, with the exception of those studies that examine self-mutilation
as a risk factor for suicide.
While important strides in Canadian suicide research have continued beyond
2003, this document reflects efforts from 1985-2003. Current research
efforts or those that have been published after 2003 are not captured
in the current document.
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