Using administrative data to understand mental health in Northern Ireland: results from two exemplar projects
Dr Aideen Maguire, Dr Mark McCann, Dr John Moriarty and Dr Dermot O’Reilly (QUB) Mental ill health is a major contributor to the burden of disease among the population. Associations have been found between gender, deprivation and bereavement and mental ill health; but the underlying mechanisms are not well understood. Emerging studies are using a novel method of measuring population mental health by linking existing administrative healthcare data to Census returns data and GRO death records to determine the prevalence and predictors of depression in the entire Northern Ireland population. In the two studies illustrated in this presentation, prescribing data
Towards an Understanding of the Role of Bereavement in the Pathway to Suicide
Dr Sharon Mallon (OU) and Dr Karen Galway (QUB) Bereavement is considered to be a common precursor of death by suicide. Studies suggest those bereaved by suicide may be particularly vulnerable to suicide themselves. Recently, there has been a steady rise in the number of deaths by suicide in Northern Ireland. As a result, an increasing number of individuals have been exposed to bereavement by suicide. It remains unclear how these deaths might impact on future suicide rates. This presentation is dual focused, it provides an in-depth examination of a two-year cohort of suicides, exploring how bereavement issues affected those