You are invited to apply for a place on a free event titled: 'Domestic Violence and Abuse - What About Men?'  This will take place on Tuesday 24th March, from 1.30pm to 3.00pm, in Training Room 2, Downshire Hospital, Ardglass Road, Downpatrick.  It will explore: the nature and extent of domestic abuse perpetrated against men; types, indicators and impact of abuse; barriers to seeking help; and services available to male victims.  This event is open to anyone working in the statutory, voluntary or community sectors.  To book a place, Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Existing research confirms that in professional settings - including maternity, child and family support services - negative assumptions about young fathers are pervasive and translate into practices of surveillance or side-lining by practitioners (Neale & Davies, 2015).  Such practices exclude them from dominant expectations of ‘engaged fatherhood’ (Miller, 2011); despite the proven societal and wide-ranging benefits of men’s involvement in caregiving for children, mothers and fathers.  ‘Following Young Fathers Further’ is a four-year qualitative longitudinal study which explores the parenting trajectories and support needs of young fathers (aged 25 and under).  Find out more at: https://fyff.blogs.lincoln.ac.uk

The Department of Health in Northern Ireland recently published 'Health Survey (NI): First Results 2018/19'.  This survey runs on an annual basis, and covers a range of health topics that are important to the lives of people in Northern Ireland.  The fieldwork was conducted from April 2018 to March 2019, and data were collected using Computer Assisted Personal Interviewing (CAPI) and, where appropriate, Computer Assisted Self-Interviewing (CASI), from those aged 16 and over in private households.  3,593 interviews were conducted.  A copy of the report can be downloaded at: https://www.health-ni.gov.uk/sites/default/files/publications/health/hsni-first-results-18-19_1.pdf

Every day in Ireland, 13 people die from a cardiac arrest.  If your work colleague, family member or friend suddenly collapsed, would you know what to do?  The Irish Heart Foundation is on a mission to train a nation of life savers and, through their Hands for Life programme, is offering free CPR training in communities and workplaces across Ireland for adults aged 18 years and over.  Find out more at: https://irishheart.ie/courses/hands-for-life

A very original and creative health initiative took place in Hydebank Wood Secure College and Women’s Prison last year that was co-designed and produced with people who live in custody.  As a result, it was decided to create a comic book that addresses health and wellbeing issues in prison.  A multi-disciplinary Steering Group was set up, involving people who work and live in secure establishments.  It was agreed that the first edition would focus on addiction - as this is a major issue in these settings.  A series of workshops was arranged with staff and service users to brainstorm ideas, artwork and story boards for the comic.  Crucial to this, was the involvement of a person who had previous lived experience of prison and is a volunteer artist for the Prison Arts Foundation.  Those in custody took the lead on character development, storytelling, artwork and, most importantly, relevant language.  The comic book focuses on the character ‘Diaze - Man’ who is addicted to prescription medication and his fight with his drug enemies - the Zolpidem Zombie King, Budzilla, Opioid Ogre and others.  He gets help from people who work in prison to overcome his enemies, and turns into ‘Mentor Man’, who is able to help others.  The comic was launched in November 2019, and work on the second edition begins in April 2020.  It also won the Public Health Agency’s Involve Fest Chairman’s Award 2019/20 for Best Community and Voluntary Initiative.  View a copy of it at: https://www.mhfi.org/BizInPris.pdf

You are invited to apply for a place on a 'Connecting with Young Men' workshop.  This free event will take place on Wednesday 25th March 2020, from 9.30am to 4.00pm, in the Regional Education Centre, Ardee, Co. Louth.  The aim of this workshop is to assist a broad range of practitioners to effectively connect with young men on mental health and wellbeing issues.  It focuses on the engagement process (i.e. WHY and HOW to build relationships with young men) and seeks to: demonstrate why we need to work with young men as a specific group; help participants to reflect on their own value base, experience, attitudes towards, and expectations of young men; explore the world of young men, the issues that they face and opportunities that exist to engage with them; consider the practicalities of ‘what works’; increase the confidence of participants in relation to working with young men.  To apply for a place, or for further information, contact Carol Farrelly at Tel: 041 9875292  |  Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

The Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health (ACAMH) invites you to a free talk on ‘Adolescent Mental Health Resilience After Childhood Adversity’.  This will be held on Friday 20th March 2020, from 2.00pm - 4.00pm, in the O’Flanagan Lecture Theatre, Royal College of Surgeons Ireland, York Street, St Stephens Green, Dublin 2.  In this talk, the speaker (Dr Anne-Laura van Harmelen) will argue that resilient functioning is not facilitated by any single ‘resilience biomarker’, but is a product of complex processes and influences across multiple levels; ranging from ‘bottom-up’ neurobiological influences, to ‘top-down’ supportive social influences.  This event is being organised by ACAMH’s Early Intervention in Youth Mental Health Special Interest Group, and is co-hosted by the Youth and Student Mental Health Special Interest Group of the College of Psychiatrists of Ireland.  Book a place at: https://www.acamh.org/event/ei-sig

The La Dolce Vita Project, in association with Parental Alienation Europe, will be hosting two ‘United As One’ conferences on 21st April 2020 in Croke Park, Dublin, and in The City Hotel, Derry/Londonderry on 23rd April 2020.  Both conferences will focus upon the issue of parental alienation and are suitable for professionals (including psychotherapists, social workers, psychiatrists, counsellors, barristers, solicitors, guardians of court, family support workers) and anyone working with those impacted by domestic abuse, violence and parental alienation.  More details are available at: https://parentalalienation.eu/parental-alienation-conferences-2020-dublin-and-derry