PHA to host major self-harm conference

The Public Health Agency (PHA) is hosting a major symposium next month for health and social care professionals working in the field of self-harm. 

The 2015 Self-Harm Symposium: A Global Challenge will be held on 27 February at Riddel Hall, Belfast, to mark the beginning of Self-Harm Awareness Week.

The day-long learning event is for professionals from the statutory and community and voluntary sectors working in the field of self-harm. The symposium will examine best practice locally, nationally and internationally and debate the challenges in the context of future commissioning and service redesign.

Brendan Bonner from the PHA explained: “For an issue as challenging as self-harm, it is essential that we share ideas and best practice to find the most effective ways to help and support people affected by the behaviour.

“The event will offer an excellent learning opportunity for those who are working within the field of self-harm in Northern Ireland. It will also enable participants to assess how Northern Ireland is addressing the challenge of self-harm and what future course we can take to make sure our work on the issue is as effective as possible.”

As part of the symposium two key reports will be launched – the first will be the 2013/14 Annual Report of the Northern Ireland Registry of Self-Harm. The purpose of the registry is to improve understanding about self-harm and related behaviours in Northern Ireland, as well as to provide insight into the scale of the issue. The information gathered is used to monitor trends and patterns over time and, perhaps most importantly, will help shape the development of services and support to meet need. This will be the second annual report to be launched by the PHA emanating from the registry data.
 
The second report will be The Northern Ireland Registry of Self-Harm: Western Area Six Year Summary Report 2007-2012. This report, the first of its kind in the UK or Ireland, looks at data which have continued to be collected from the western area since the pilot of the registry commenced back in 2007. This significant period has allowed for trends to be monitored over a period of time and demonstrates not only how the Northern Ireland-wide registry can be used in the future, but also the level of essential information the registry can provide in relation to self-harm behaviour.

Brendan Bonner, who oversees the Northern Ireland Self-Harm Registry on behalf of the PHA, said: “The registry provides the PHA with a detailed insight into self-harm in Northern Ireland. The report from the western area covers a significant time period and illustrates just how useful this work is in providing us with key information on self-harm so we can respond appropriately and effectively. The report will also include the first of four supplements providing more in-depth analysis of specific issues. The first supplement will address the issue of repetition of self-harming behaviour.

Brendan added: “The PHA hopes that the wider regional work will provide a similar contribution to our understanding of self-harm in Northern Ireland and help health and social care bodies along with the community and voluntary sector to develop a better understanding of how to address self-harm.”

To register your interest in attending please fill in the application form at www.leadership.hscni.net/surveys/PHA/index.html by 28 January.