Life in Mind to support University of Melbourne’s call on researchers for national COVID-19 suicide research project

The University of Melbourne is calling on all Australian researchers planning or already conducting suicide-related research regarding the COVID-19 pandemic to share their updates and ideas as part of the National Leadership in Suicide Prevention Research project. 

The team at the University of Melbourne, in collaboration with Life in Mind, will collate this information to be showcased on the Life in Mind national suicide prevention online portal.

Led by Professor Jane Pirkis and Dr Lennart Reifels, the project will link researchers with interests in this area to both facilitate and improve the sharing of resources. This will allow the research community to conduct stronger research, minimise duplication of effort, and ensure community members at heightened risk are not over-burdened with research requests.

“Suicide prevention researchers from countries around the world are currently contemplating projects like this, designed to inform our understanding of how to best keep people safe and well emotionally during a pandemic,” Prof Jane Pirkis said. 

“All researchers must also consider the additional ethical and practical complexities that come about when conducting suicide prevention research during a pandemic, and it is important that this research serves the greater good and does no harm.”

Everymind Acting Program Manager, Sara Bartlett, said “Life in Mind welcomes the opportunity to continue our relationship with the University of Melbourne, and bring the sector together to collaborate via the nationally-recognised suicide prevention portal.”

If you are an Australian researcher planning or already conducting suicide-related research regarding the COVID-19 pandemic, please email: [email protected]

To find out more, visit https://lifeinmindaustralia.com.au/research/australian-covid-19-suicide-research