A Visit from Across the Pond: Karen Lascelles Visits the Digital Mental Health Lab as International Partnership for Digital Health and Suicide Care Progresses
In 2023, an agreement between Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust, the University of Oxford, the University of Toronto and the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) was formalized to work towards improving suicide care through the use of digital health and Artificial Intelligence (AI). This project will work to update the current Hope by CAMH app to become a global standard for suicide prevention among users in Canada and the UK. The project is currently focusing on creating a foundation and roadmap for building the Hope app as a shared patient-facing AI-driven suicide care planning tool that is equipped with the necessary processes and capabilities to deliver evidence-based and equitable support for individuals in Canada and the UK. This work is being conducted through four project streams led collaboratively by clinicians and researchers from the four partner organizations with expertise in suicide prevention, digital health, and AI. The goal of this work is to transform the Hope App to become a shared platform that will be equipped with the necessary data collection principles for algorithm development and will be grounded in equity such that it is accessible and effective for individuals experiencing suicidal ideation and behaviours in Canada and the UK.
Over the past 2 years, our lab has been responsible for leading multiple research and project activities as part of this partnership and have become closely linked to the team in the UK, including Karen Lascelles who is co-leading the research and clinical aspects of this project. Karen (RMN, PGCert, MSc, DNurse candidate) is a mental health nurse consultant and specializes in the field of suicide and self-harm. During the month of February, our Digital Mental Health Lab was fortunate enough to welcome Karen to CAMH for a week-long visit where she was able to share her expertise and experience with CAMH clinicians and research staff. She was also able to learn more about the programs and clinical care delivered at CAMH, as well as further collaborations on various project goals.
To learn more about clinical care at CAMH, Karen visited inpatient units with Dr. Tania Tajirian (Chief Health Information Officer and Chief of Hospital Medicine) and joined Dr. Renee Linklater (Senior Director of Shkaabe Makwa) for a tour of the cultural spaces at CAMH’s Shkabbe Makwa Centre. Shakabbe Makwa is the first hospital-based centre in Canada designed to drive culturally-responsive system initiatives to achieve health justice and wellness for Indigenous communities. Karen also visited the CAMH Emergency Department (ED) and took part in ED Rounds with CAMH clinicians to learn about the provision of emergency medicine within a psychiatric hospital setting. These tours and meetings with CAMH staff and clinicians provided Karen with an impactful view of the specialized care that CAMH provides to meet the needs of the diverse patient population that the hospital serves.
Members of the CAMH-Oxford Project Teams
Back row from left to right: Brian Lo, Alan Tang, Gurpal Bubbra Gillian Strudwick, Tim Rankin, and Rino La Grassa.
Front row from left to right: Danielle Shin, Nelson Shen, Karen Lascelles, Charlotte Pape, and Sri Kundurthi.
During her visit, Karen also utilized her time to share her clinical and research expertise with CAMH staff. Karen was the keynote speaker for the Professional Practice Office Education Rounds for the month of February. Karen delivered an informative presentation on the assessment of suicide risk in mental health practice and the work she has been involved in to shift from prediction to therapeutic assessment, formulation, and risk management. CAMH clinicians and staff attended the event and learned about contemporary approaches to suicide risk assessment, formulation, and safety planning. Additionally, Karen guided attendees through a comparison of the Canadian and UK perspectives and practices in suicide care.
Karen Lascelles and Dr. Gillian Strudwick presenting at the FHLIP Conference held at the University of Toronto.
One of the main reasons for Karen’s visit was to attend and present at the Future of Health Leadership, Informatics and Policy (FHLIP) Conference which was held at Hart House at the University of Toronto. Karen was joined by Dr. Gillian Strudwick to co-present the research findings of our most recent publication titled “Assessing Suicide Prevention Apps’ Responsiveness to Help-Seeking Needs of Individuals Connected with Mental Health Services”. During the presentation, Gillian and Karen discussed the suicide help-seeking needs identified in our literature review and the responsiveness of the features and functionalities of existing suicide prevention mobile apps. Attendees were able to identify barriers and facilitators of help-seeking related to suicide within psychiatric populations and understand the current landscape of suicide prevention apps. The presentation fostered a valuable discussion about the future of suicide prevention apps and how these tools can better respond to users’ needs. To learn more about this work, the published conference paper can be read here.
The Digital Mental Health Lab is so grateful to have shared this valuable time with Karen Lascelles and the expertise she shared with CAMH staff, clinicians, and researchers. This has been a great benefit to the international partnership, and we look forward to welcoming more team members to CAMH and Toronto in the future. As the project continues, there are many upcoming presentations to share our findings and insights from this work. Most recently, Sri Kundurthi (Research Analyst with the lab) delivered an excellent presentation as part of the Krembil Centre for Neuroinformatics (KCNI) Research Rounds. For this presentation, Sri discussed the findings from a rapid review she led on harnessing digital health data for suicide management and care.
Sri Kundurthi presenting on digital health data for suicide management and care at the KCNI Research Rounds.
To learn more about this project and current research outputs, the following publications are available:
Partnership Announcements:
Written by: Jessica Kemp
April 2024