News Archive
McGill Daily Reports about TGH Program
November 2010| A reporter from the McGill Daily, a university based newspaper sat down for an interview with TGH Research Associate Hanna Kienzler to talk about the activities of the TGH program and its role in responding to research priorities globally. A link to the article can be found here: "Contextualizing Trauma"
London School of Economics Host Mental Health Workshop
June 2010| The Health, Community and Development Group at the London School of Economics hosted an international workshop on June 8th, 2010 focused on the challenges of global mental health. Dr. Pedersen and Hanna Kienzler presented a talk entitled “Searching for the evidence: Emerging dilemmas of humanitarian interventions in war and post-war contexts”. They were joined by some of the leading academics and activists in mental health, and workshop participants representing 23 different nationalities and a variety of academic institutions from around the world. The meeting was very successful, and outputs of the meeting are being organized into a special issue on global mental health for the journal, Transcultural Psychiatry.
NEW Global Mental Health Research course
June 2010| This intensive seminar on 'Global Mental Health Research', was the first of its kind to be offered at the McGill Summer Program in Social & Transcultural Psychiatry. Dr. Duncan Pedersen led the course with collaboration and participation from guest faculty including, Dr. Laurence Kirmayer (McGill), Gilles Bibeau (Université de Montréal, Montreal), Kris Heggenhougen (University of Bergen, Norway; Harvard Medical School, Boston), Vikram Patel (London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, UK), Michel Tousignant (Université de Québec a Montréal), and Christina Zarowsky (University of the Western Cape, South Africa).The seminar surveyed different topics relating to mental health, including: a) the global burden of mental illness; b) relationships between globalization, mental disorders and other health conditions; c) paths and linkages between macro- and micro-social determinants of mental illness; d) social inequalities and (mental) health outcomes; and e) innovative policies and interventions for decentralization of health resources and implementation of community-based care, including packages of care for specific disorders and comprehensive programmes of mental-health care for groups at risk. The course was a great success, and hopes to continue at next year's Summer School program.
Trauma and Global Health Management Committee Meeting
April 2010| From April 26-28, 2010, team leaders from the TGH Program came together in Montreal for the 4th Annual Management Committee Meeting. Over the course of 3 days, teams leaders from Guatemala, Peru, Sri Lanka and Nepal presented progress reports on the past year's activities. At this year's meeting, there was also special attendance from participants in Gaza and the West Bank, who presented opportunities of future collaboration with the TGH program. The committee also received Drs. Thomas Brown and Alain Brunet from the Douglas Hospital Research Centre who gave presentations on their own projects and opportunities for collaboration with the TGH program.
CIHR Journalism Award Recipient Reports on Sri Lanka
December 2009 |Supported by a CIHR Journalism Award, Le Devoir journalist Lisa-Marie Gervais travelled to Sri Lanka in November to report on the lingering impacts of the 2004 tsunami and decades of civil war. Links to her articles (in French) are here: "Les cicatrices du tsunami", which quotes former TGH fellow Judy Jeyakamur; "Les déplacés des camps tamouls au Sri Lanka: Une libération pour le meilleur et pour le pire"; "Sri Lanka - Le lent retour des réfugiés tamouls"; "Sri Lanka - Comment rétablir la paix ?"; and Radio-Canada interview "Sri Lanka, six mois après la fin de la guerre civile". The 2008 CIHR Journalism Awards gave 19 Canadian journalists critical extra resources to conduct additional in-depth investigation and reporting of health research issues of interest to Canadians.
Mental Health and Wellbeing Book Now Available
August 2009 |The book Mental Health and Wellbeing by Chamindra Weerackody and Suman Fernando published by PRDA and Oxfam America (2009) is now available at bookshops in Colombo, as well as directly from hanna.kienzler [at] mail.mcgill.ca (Hanna Kienzler) . The book’s authors are also publishing an article entitled, “Challenges in Developing Community Mental Health Services in Sri Lanka” in a forthcoming issue of the Journal of Health Management.
Nurses to Receive Training of Trainers Program
August 2009 | The Trauma & Global Health Program is planning another series of training sessions for late November or early December 2009 at the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) in Angoda, near Colombo. The program will be offered mainly to nurses and will take a Training of Trainers format, allowing a few nurses to be trained to sustain on-going training.
Nepal’s New Research on Psychological Counseling
August 2009 |The Trauma & Global Health Program’s team in Nepal has recently initiated a new research project entitled, "Mapping of Psychosocial Counselors.” The main objectives of the research are to understand the state of psychosocial counseling in Nepal; to find out the challenges faced by counselors while providing services; and to analyze the need of counselors in the field of psychosocial counseling. Research results will also be used to modify the existing course on Psychosocial Counseling. To date, ten counselors, five program coordinators and six clients from Dang, Surkhet, Nepalgunj and Bardiya districts have been interviewed using a semi-structured interview schedule. Data collection in the Kathmandu valley will commence in the near future.
TGH Team Members Publish Two New Articles
August 2009 |Two articles have recently been published by Trauma & Global Health Program team members. In Sri Lanka, Chamindra Weerackody and Suman Fernando are publishing their article “Challenges in Developing Community Mental Health Services in Sri Lanka” in a forthcoming issue of the Journal of Health Management. In Canada, Jacques Tremblay, Duncan Pedersen, and Consuelo Errazuriz, have published their article, “Assessing mental health outcomes of political violence and civil unrest in Peru” in a recent issue of the International Journal of Social Psychiatry. Congratulations to all authors.
TGH in Sri Lanka Developing Mental Health Training Modules
August 2009 | The Sri Lankan Trauma & Global Health Program team is in the process of developing training modules for mental health professionals and workers such as community support workers and social workers, hopefully to be delivered in co-operation with the Ministry of Social Services, National Institute of Social Development and the Directorate of Mental Health. Initial drafts cover (a) training for community mental health, (b) training in mental health and wellbeing and (c) training of trainers programs.
Psychiatry Student Wins CIHR Award to Study Violence & Mental Health
July 2009 | Nicole D’souza, Master’s student in McGill’s Social & Transcultural Psychiatry Program, has been granted the Canadian Institute of Health Research (CIHR) Master’s Award to investigate the long-term effects of violence on the mental health of the aging female populations in Peru. From October to December 2009, she will be working in Lima with the TGH Peru team on various ongoing projects. Prior to her enrollment in the Master’s program, Nicole received her B.Sc in Psychology from the University of Toronto.
TGH Teams Conduct Mid-term Evaluations
June 2009 | Trauma & Global Health Program teams have successfully completed their mid-term evaluations and reported on their progress. The evaluations were conducted using Outcome Mapping, a progress measurement system designed by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) to address the challenge of comprehensively assessing and reporting development impacts. Outcome Mapping differs from traditional metrics of evaluation by acknowledging relationships between people, organizations, and environments as the essence of development and by shifting the focus from a program’s products to the behavioural changes exhibited by its participants and potential beneficiaries. For more information on Outcome Mapping and our evaluation process, please see the following documents:
Outcome Mapping Summary
Outcome Mapping - Midterm Evaluation Questionnaire
Small Grant Awarded for Exploratory Study in Peru
June 2009 | The Trauma & Global Health Program has awarded a Small Grant to Irene Hofmeijer, student at the McGill School of Environment, for her research in Peru. Irene’s work aims to test and validate the McGill Illness Narrative Interview with a sample of urban-poor women, as well as to generate hypotheses linking differences in residence location with impact on psychological wellbeing. Congratulations to Irene on behalf of the Trauma & Global Health team.
Mental Health Forum Brings Cultures Together
June 2009 | Clashes between indigenous protesters and the Peruvian army this month resulted in the death of dozens. In response to the violence, the Peruvian Trauma & Global Health Program team held a seminar entitled “Mental Health and Intercultural Communication: Contributing to Social Dialogue in Amazonia, on June 19th. The discussions were focused on the importance of mental health, constructive dialogue, mutual respect and peaceful conflict resolution between people from different cultures. Dr. Victor Cuba, Dean of the School of Public Health of Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, gave the opening address. Dr. Duncan Pedersen contributed on the history and context of political violence and interethnic conflicts via Skype. An additional three speakers, all well-known experts, talked about the history and culture of the Amazonia’s indigenous populations, their views about mental health, the dialogue between the Peruvian Government and these populations, and how violence may emerge as a consequence of national fragmentation and cultural exclusion. The closing address was delivered by Dr. Humberto Guerra, Vice-Chancellor of Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia. Approximately 150 people participated in the seminar, among them members of the Ministry of Health, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Justice, International Labor Organization, NGOs, university professors and students. A number of professionals from the Amazonia who work in the jungle were also in attendance.
Training Community-Based Psychological Counselors in Nepal
May 2009 | Trauma & Global Health Program partner, the Center for Victims of Torture (CVICT), is conducting training to enhance community based psychosocial counseling. The four-month training program runs from May 18 to September 17. Altogether there are sixteen participants: eight from the Trauma & Global Health Program, five from the Women’s Development Commission, and three CVICT volunteers.
Trauma Research Takes the Stage at McGill Global Health Conference
May 2009 | On May 8, 2009, McGill University hosted its third annual global health conference, entitled “Building and Maintaining Sustainable Global Health Partnerships.” Trauma & Global Health Program Team Leader, Dr. Duncan Pedersen, delivered his presentation “Rethinking Trauma as a Global Challenge: Medical, Social and Epidemiological Perspectives” to a rapt audience of doctors, lawyers, and other researchers and professionals working in the global health field. For more information about the conference or to download Dr. Pedersen’s presentation, please visit: https://www.mcgill.ca/globalhealth/conference2009/
Lima Hosts International Course on the Impact of Violence on Health
April 2009 | From April 2-4, Peru’s National Academy of Medicine and the Trauma & Global Health Program held a course on the impact of violence on health. Dr. Duncan Pedersen and Dr. Allan Young (McGill University) and Michel Tousignant (University of Montreal) participated as speakers on important topics such as organized violence, trauma and mental health; traumatic memory; traumatic experiences, suicide and resilience in indigenous populations in Canada; consequences of violence in Quechuas populations in Ayacucho; and violence prevention. Dr. Ana Maria Silva, Dr. Gloria Cueva, anthropologist Jeffrey Gamarra and, core members of the Peruvian TGH team gave talks on topics such as psychotherapy and treatment of victims of violence, and memory and violence between generations in Ayacucho. Approximately 140 people attended the course, including physicians and psychologists from Lima, Ayacucho and beyond. This is the fourth international course organized by the Trauma & Global Health Program.
TGH Team Leader Inducted into the Peruvian National Academy of Medicine
April 2009 | In a ceremony held on April 2, Trauma & Global Health Program Team Leader Dr. Duncan Pedersen became an official corresponding member of the National Academy of Medicine. Dr. Melitón Arce Rodriguez, President of the National Academy of Medicine and Vice-minister of Public Health, cited Dr. Pedersen’s important contributions to policy and health services research, and interventions in the fields of mental health, traditional medicine and public health in Peru. Dr. Arce Rodriguez also noted and commended the particular relation established with medical colleagues across the country and long term commitment to Peru shown by Dr. Pedersen’s work for over three decades. The entire Trauma & Global Health Program team congratulates Dr. Pedersen for this prestigious award and recognition of his invaluable services to Peru.
Training the Next Generation of Global Health Researchers
April 2009 | In April, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) awarded a six-year grant to the Trauma & Global Health Program and the three other Quebec-based Teasdale-Corti teams to fund training activities in global health research. Training activities through the Global Health Research - Capacity Strengthening (GHR-CAPS) Program will include field fellowships, bursaries for students, partnership development grants, an inter-university platform in GHR, a global health research summer school, mentoring support, thematic seminars, and the development of a best practices guide for the training of future global health research leaders. Congratulations to the Principal Investigators: Duncan Pedersen, Pierre Fournier, and Slim Haddad, and their colleagues at McGill University, l’Université de Montréal, l’Université de Québec à Montréal, and l’Université Laval. Stay tuned to our website for further information as the training program develops.
CIHR Journalism Award Supports Reporting on TGH Program in Sri Lanka
March 2009 | Lisa-Marie Gervais, journalist for Le Devoir, was among the recipients of the first Canadian Institute of Health Research Journalism Awards presented on March 10 in Ottawa. Ms. Gervais will be traveling to Sri Lanka to report on the Trauma & Global Health Program’s initiatives. The 2008 CIHR Journalism Awards gave 19 Canadian journalists critical extra resources to conduct additional in-depth investigation and reporting of health research issues of interest to Canadians.
Feature Interview on IDRC Website
January 2009 | An interview with Trauma and Global Health Program team members Duncan Pedersen, Victor Lopez, and Marina Piazza is now on the International Development Research Centre website. Please click here to read the article entitled "New Prescription for Traumatic Times."
Oxfam America Reports on Sri Lanka Team’s Study
January 2009 | Please click here and here for recent reports on the Trauma and Global Health Program’s work in Sri Lanka.
Comunicado de los obispos de la la selva Peruana
August 2008 | Los Obispos de los Vicariatos Apostólicos de la Selva nos hemos reunido en la ciudad de Lima, el día 27 de agosto de 2008 para reflexionar sobre la situación de los pueblos indígenas de nuestra Amazonía, y el impacto de los Decretos Legislativos promulgados por el Poder Ejecutivo, en relación con dichos pueblos y sus territorios ancestrales.
Peruvian Children Commemorate Earthquake Using Photography
August 2008 | One year after a powerful quake left over 500 dead and nearly 700,000 homeless in Peru, an innovative Red Cross project has put children behind the camera to depict how their lives have changed. For the full news story, please click here. To view the children’s photography, please click here.
Ananda Galappatti Wins 2008 Ramon Magsaysay Award for Emergent Leadership
August 2008 | Sri Lankan TGH team member, Ananda Galapatti, has been awarded with the 2008 Ramon Magsaysay Award for Emergent Leadership, which he describes as “an acknowledgement of the considerable work that many practitioners in Sri Lanka have undertaken over the past 15-20 years.” Ananda is being recognized for “his spirited personal commitment to bring appropriate and effective psychosocial services to victims of war trauma and natural disasters in Sri Lanka.” Sometimes described as “Asia’s Nobel Peace Prize”, the Ramon Magsaysay Award recognizes individuals “who address issues of human development in Asia with courage and creativity, and in doing so have made contributions which have transformed their societies for the better.” Created in 2000, the Award for Emergent Leadership honours men and women who are forty years of age and below. For a biography of Ananda Galapatti, please click here. For more information on the Ramon Magsaysay Award, please click here.
TGH team members publish in Social Science & Medicine
July 2008 | Trauma and Global Health Program team members Duncan Pedersen, Jacques Tremblay, Consuelo Errazuriz, along with Jeffrey Gamarra, are publishing their article, “The sequelae of political violence: Assessing trauma, suffering and dislocation in the Peruvian highlands” in a forthcoming issue of Social Science & Medicine (Volume 67, Issue 2). The article discusses the results of a study conducted between 2001 and 2003 that used a mixed qualitative and quantitative approach to investigating psychological trauma in Peru. To access the article, please click here.
Nepal Dismantles Royal Past
April 3, 2008 | Click here for a New York Times slide show on the Nepalese monarchy.
Workshop in Sri Lanka & Field Visit to Nepal
January - February, 2008 | The Trauma & Global Health Program's Canadian team began 2008 in Colombo, Sri Lanka, where four McGill professors and local staff came together to host the Second International Mental Health Practice and Research Training Course and Workshops from January 21 - 26. A full itinerary is available at https://www.mcgill.ca/trauma-globalhealth/news/archive/. In the days leading up to the training sessions, participants visited Sri Lanka's South-West region, travelling to Hambantota, home to the Sri Lankan team NGO partner Basic Needs (http://www.basicneeds.org/itp/)Creative Action and the Ridiyagama Rehabilitation Centre. Following the course, three McGill team members continued on to Nepal, where they visited collaborating organizations in Tanahun, Chitwan, and Dang, as well as the Centre for Victims of Torture (CVICT) in Kathmandu.
Peruvian Monument Vandalized
September 23, 2007 | Vandals attacked Peruvian monument "El Ojo que Llora"(“The Eye that Cries”). Built in 2005 by Dutch-born sculptor Lika Mutal, the monument commemorates the 70,000 lives lost during the 1980-2000 internal conflict pitting government forces against left-wing insurgents. The monument was covered in orange paint, the colour of the party of former president Alberto Fujimori, two days following his extradition to stand trial for human rights abuses. For more information (in Spanish), click here. For pictures, click here.
Program Responds to Peruvian Earthquake
August 15, 2007 | Peru’s coastal areas were hit by an earthquake whose epicentre was close to an active fault line, measured 8.0 on the Richter scale. The quake killed over 500 people, and more than a thousand were injured. Some 100,000 people were also made homeless. In response to the earthquake, Marina Piazza, TGH team leader, in collaboration with the Peruvian Ministry of Health, PAHO/WHO, Paz y Esperanza (Peruvian NGO), and the Coordinadora Nacional de Derechos Humanos, organised a field visit to the affected areas followed by a series of workshops (20-21 September and 01-06 October, 2007) to train health workers and other first responders from the areas of Cañete, Pisco, Chincha e Ica, in disaster management and psychosocial interventions. The TGH initiative co-funded the workshops and provided technical support with Raquel Cohen, international expert in the field of disaster management, and Duncan Pedersen, Team Leader, TGH Program. In addition, the workshops were attended by experts such as Carlos Beristain (from Spain); German Vargas Farias, Viviana Valz Gen, and Celso Bambaren (from Peru); among others.
Events Archive
Guest Lecture in Global Health and Environmental Change
Montreal, QC
October 29, 2009 | Dr. Duncan Pedersen will be giving a guest lecture on the ecological impacts on mental health to Dr. Lea Berrang Ford’s Geography class at McGill University.
Mental Health Nursing Theory and Practice: A General Orientation followed by a Training of Trainers (TOT) Programme for Psychiatric Nurses
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), Angoda, Sri Lanka
November 24-27, 2009 | The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), the Trauma and Global Health (TGH) Program (People’s Rural Development Association (PRDA) Sri Lanka and McGill University, Canada) and Barnet, Enfield and Haringey (BEH) MH Trust, UK have organized a four-day orientation and training program aimed at Nurses in Sri Lanka. For more information, please download the provisional program or contact Mr. Chamindra Weerackody.
Mental Health, Illness and Social Work: Workshop for Social Workers and Psychiatric Social Workers
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), Angoda, Sri Lanka
December 7-8, 2009 | The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), the Trauma and Global Health (TGH) Program (People’s Rural Development Association (PRDA) Sri Lanka and McGill University, Canada) and the Sri Lanka Association for Professional Social Workers have organized a two-day workshop aimed at Social Workers in Sri Lanka. For more information, please download the provisional program or contact Mr. Chamindra Weerackody.
Teasdale-Corti Team Meeting
Cairo, Egypt
October 19-21, 2009 | The Teasdale-Corti teams are scheduled to come together in Cairo this fall to evaluate the program's contribution in global health and research capacity building, as well as to contribute to the further development of the Teasdale-Corti program.
McGill Humanitarian Studies Initiative for Residents
Montreal, QC
October 6, 2009 | Dr. Duncan Pedersen will be presenting information about the Trauma & Global Health Program to the McGill Humanitarian Studies Initiative for Residents, a multi-disciplinary program that trains resident-physicians and fellows who have had some previous experience in international health and/or in humanitarian response to disaster and refugee crises. For more information about the initiative, please visit: https://www.mcgill.ca/familymed/international/hsir/
GHR-CAPS General Assembly
Canada
September 22, 2009 | The "Global Health Research Capacity Strengthening Program (GHR-CAPS) will initiate its activities this coming month of September. A full day general assembly meeting is planned on September 22, 2009 with the participation of all Canadian researchers and mentors.
New International Diploma in Mental Health Law
and Human Rights
Pune, India
October, 2008 |We are pleased to announce the first ever one year International Diploma in Mental Health Law and Human Rights! The International Diploma, which has been developed by WHO MIND in collaboration with the ILS Law College, will be launched in October this year in Pune, India. Based on WHO materials and tools, the Diploma provides students with the opportunity to develop essential knowledge and expertise in the area of mental health, human rights and law in order to effectively advocate for improved conditions for people with mental disabilities. In view of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities which will come into force in many countries in the coming months, and of the increasing number of countries undertaking mental health reform, this Diploma will provide students with indispensable knowledge and skills to support countries in bringing about positive change in this area. The course, which comprises both residential sessions and distance learning, will be taught and supervised by a faculty comprising renowned experts in the area of mental health, human rights and legislation from around the globe with a tradition of excellence in teaching in their respective fields.Want to learn more? Visit the International Diploma in Mental Health Law and Human Rights website.
Advanced Study Institute | Peace, Conflict, & Reconciliation: Contributions of Cultural Psychiatry
Montréal, Québec
April 29 - May 2, 2008 | This workshop and conference will bring together an international group of scholars, researchers and practitioners to address the relevance of cultural psychiatry for understanding conflict resolution, reconciliation and the rebuilding of communities that have endured prolonged conflict and political violence. The format will be a two-day workshop (April 29 & 30) limited to 25 participants, for researchers active in the field. This will be followed by a two-day public conference (May 1 & 2) aimed at clinicians, practitioners, and policy makers. On Thursday evening May 1, there will be a poster session and reception, followed by a film screening and panel discussion. For more information, please visit: https://www.mcgill.ca/tcpsych/training/advanced/
14th Annual Summer Program in Social & Cultural Psychiatry
Montréal, Québec
May 5 - June 2, 2008 | The program provides the conceptual background for research and clinical work in social and cultural psychiatry and will be of interest to postdoctoral trainees, researchers, and clinicians in psychiatry and other mental health disciplines; residents and graduate students in health and social sciences; and physicians, psychologists, social workers and health professionals. The summer program forms part of the training activities of the Montreal WHO Collaborating Centre and is endorsed by the Canadian Academy of Psychiatric Epidemiology. For more information, please visit: https://www.mcgill.ca/tcpsych/training/summer/#GENERAL.
Call to McGill Students: Axe de recherche en santé mondiale Montréal, Québec
May/June, 2008 | L'axe de recherche en santé is planning a brainstorming session for 20-25 students from four universities (McGill, UQAM, U de M, Laval) in the month of May or June, aiming to identify training activities (workshops, seminars, etc.) that it could organize for students in the coming year. Students from various backgrounds and levels (master's, doctoral, postdoctoral) interested in participating in the brainstorming session may contact Consuelo Errázuriz.
Second International Mental Health Practice and Research Training Course and Workshops
Colombo, Sri Lanka
January 21-26, 2008 | This international course in Colombo is being organised by Sri Lanka Mental Health Services, the Institute of Psychiatry and the WHO country office (PWR John Mahoney). Six members of the McGill department of Psychiatry will be travelling to Sri Lanka to participate in a 3-day Transcultural Psychiatry International Course and a 3-day Workshop on Qualitative Research methods. The sessions will be offered consecutively, in order to open registration of both the course and the workshop to all participants.
Program and Course Details
Global Health Research Initiative - Teasdale-Corti Team Grant Forum
Ottawa, Canada
November 7-9, 2007 | The funding agencies lead by IDRC are hosting a GHRI-TC meeting with all 13 Teasdale-Corti teams in Ottawa to discuss cross-cutting issues in research, capacity building and knowledge transfer, as well as common concerns regarding the implementation phase.
Global Mental Health Forum
Victoria, Australia
October 4, 2007 | The Centre for International Mental Health, School of Population Health and the Nossal Institute for Global Health, University of Melbourne, Australia warmly invite you to participate in the Global Mental Health Forum. The Forum will include the Australian launch of the Lancet Series on Global Mental Health and the International Journal of Mental Health Systems; presentations of the major findings in the Lancet Series and the call for action; commentaries on the series by key stakeholders in global mental health and a panel discussion by local and international leaders in mental health, donor agencies, multilateral agencies, NGOs and other stakeholders. The articles in the Lancet Series articles are available for download at: http://www.thelancet.com/online/focus/mental_health
Further information and registration details are available on the CIMH website: http://www.cimh.unimelb.edu.au
Funding opportunities for LMIC members
Canada
September, 2007 |GHRI Career Development Awards: The Global Health Research Initiative (GHRI) has just launched the second component of the Teasdale-Corti Global Health Research Partnership Program (The Global Health Leadership Awards). These are career development awards offered by GHRI to LMIC individuals. Registration due: October 22, 2007. For more information please visit http://www.idrc.ca or contact: TCgrant [at] idrc.ca
WHO Agreement on Mental Health
Geneva, Swizterland
September 14, 2007 | International humanitarian agencies have agreed on a new set of guidelines to address the mental health and psychosocial needs of survivors as part of the response to conflict or disaster. www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2007/pr46/en/index.html
First Trauma and Global Health course
Montreal, Canada
May - June, 2007 | For the first time the course “Rethinking Trauma: Social, Cultural and Psychological Perspectives” was offered as part of the 13th Summer Program in Social and Cultural Psychiatry led by the Division of Transcultural Psychiatry, at McGill University. The course generated a great deal of interest and attracted 35 international and local graduate students, clinicians and researchers. The Course will be extended in duration (to twice a week sessions) and offered once again next May 2008, in conjuction with the McGill Advanced Study Institute.
Global Mental Health Course
Guatemala City, Guatemala
April 2007 | The first international course entitled “Perspectivas Socioculturales en Salud Mental de Poblaciones Afectadas por Violencia Organizada y Desastre Naturales” was held in Guatemala City. There was a high turnout: more than 70 people attended, including health workers, the NGO community, academics and students. Moreover, the first field site visits were completed during the following days with a heavy agenda of visits and new contacts. The McGill team was escorted by Victor Lopez, the Guatemalan team leader, and field visits were made to Chichicastenango, Chinique, and Huehuetenango, close to the Mexican border.