This event will bring together experts from academia, front-line health practitioners and NGOs to showcase research related to mental health in conflict or post-conflict settings. This event will sit at the interface of academia and practice to address theoretical and practical issues related to the challenges and opportunities related to health research in such settings. Discussions will explore topics related to sexual exploitation, Gulf War Syndrome, unrest in Hong Kong and youth mental health, and the mental health needs of Syrian refugees.
This panel discussion will include a Q&A, followed by a reception and poster display.
Poster Competition Information is available here
Event programme:
17:30 Joint welcome and introductions Professor Martin Knapp, Professor of Social Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science
17:40 ‘Finding ways to address mental health in conflict-affected populations in Northern Sri Lanka’ Dr Shannon Doherty, Senior Lecturer in Public Health, Anglia Ruskin University
17:55 ‘The armed forces: A toxic occupation?’ Professor Sir Simon Wessley, Professor of Psychological Medicine, Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London
18:10 ‘Mental health of Syrian refugees: Treatment gap and way forward’ Dr Daniela Fuhr, Assistant Professor in Mental Health Systems, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
18:25 ‘Social unrest and youth mental health in Hong Kong’ Dr Gloria Wong, Assistant Professor in Social Work and Social Administration, University of Hong Kong
18:40 ‘Speak what we feel, not what we ought to say: A personal perspective on traumatic bereavement and the conflict of grief’ Reverend Julie Nicholson, Author of 'A song for Jenny: A mother's story of love and loss'
18:55 General discussion
19:30 Reception and poster display
About the speakers:
Dr Shannon Doherty, Senior Lecturer in Public Health at Anglia Ruskin University. Dr Doherty leads modules in Health Communication, Projects to Enhance Health, and Addictions and Communicable Disease Management. She is also the Principal Investigator for the COMGAP-S project, which seeks to integrate mental health services into primary care for conflict-affected populations in Northern Province, Sri Lanka. Dr Doherty is a public mental health specialist, with research interests in migration and health, behaviour change, and research ethics.
Dr Daniela Fuhr, Assistant Professor in Mental Health Systems, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Dr Fuhr works on the STRENGHTS (Syrian Refugees Mental Health Care Systems) project which is funded by the European Commission Horizon 2020 scheme. STRENGHTS focuses on the mental health needs of Syrian refugees, and seeks to provide a framework for scaling-up the delivery and uptake of Problem Management+ (PM+) in countries neighbouring Syria (Turkey, Lebanon, Egypt, Jordan) and major European host countries (Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland). Daniela is also a PI on a Wellcome funded seed grant which seeks to develop a community-based intervention for alcohol use disorders in Ukraine within the general population, including internally displaced people.
Reverend Julie Nicholson, Author of 'A song for Jenny: A mother's story of love and loss'. Julie Nicholson's daughter Jenny, who was 24 at the time, was one of the 52 people killed in a series of explosions in the 7/7 London suicide bombings. In 'A song for Jenny', Julie describes her experiences of love, loss and grief.
Professor Sir Simon Wessely, Professor and Head of the Department of Psychological Medicine at the Institute of Psychiatry (IoP), King’s College London (KCL). He founded the Gulf War Illness Research Unit, which in 2003 became the King’s Centre for Military Health Research, a unique collaboration between the IoP and the KCL Department of War Studies in 2003. Its flagship project is a large-scale ongoing study of the health and wellbeing of the UK Armed Forces, has had a direct impact on public policy and on forms of treatment and help for Service personnel. He is consultant liaison psychiatrist at King’s College Hospital, Civilian Consultant Advisor in Psychiatry to the British Army since 2001, and a Foundation Senior Investigator of the National Institute for Health Research.
Dr Gloria Hoi Yan Wong, Assistant Professor at the Department of Social Work and Social Administration at The University of Hong Kong. Dr Wong's work focuses on mental health services for young people and older persons, as well as services for specific conditions such as psychosis and dementia. She is leading a youth mental wellness hub programme, a pilot community-based service being launched in early 2020, amidst social turmoil in Hong Kong with unfolding mental health consequences.
Chair:
Professor Martin Knapp, Professor of Social Policy and Director of the NIHR School for Social Care Research, Department of Health Policy at the London School of Economics and Political Science. Professor Knapp has been working for many years in the fields of long-term care, social care, and mental health policy and practice. His current research emphases are primarily dementia, child and adult mental health, autism and long-term social care. Much of his work has an economic focus, and in all of it he seeks to tease out the policy and practice implications. He has published almost 600 peer-review journal papers and 15 books. His work has had numerous impacts on policy and practice in these areas.
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