Data collection of Sri Lanka's first National Mental Health Survey was successfully completed |
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Institute for Research and Development (IRD) has been able to successfully conclude the data collection in the first ever National Mental Health Survey, which covered more than 6000 individuals randomly selected from over 600 Grama Niladhari Divisions, and more than 3000 students from over 130 government schools.
Thus the National Mental Health Survey; commissioned by the Mental Health Directorate of the Ministry of Healthcare and Nutrition, has reached its final stages. The project includes; a Community based Mental Health Survey, a School Based Mental Health Survey and a research assessing Attitudes on Mental Health.
Due to the prevailing security situation in the Northern and Eastern provinces of the country, the survey had to be restricted to the 17 districts of the other provinces. The dedication of more than 30 research assistants in the Community Survey and almost 100 teachers in the School Survey, recruited from all over the country was the main reason for being able to complete the data collection. The IRD expresses its gratitude for these research assistants and the teachers for their contribution in collecting such a vast amount of data from areas spread all over the country in the face of immense difficulty and hardship. The IRD expects to publicise the results of the survey after analysing and preparing the report for the Ministry of Health |
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Science & Media: Challenges in the future |
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A public lecture; ‘Science & Media: Challenges in the future' and a panel discussion on Science, Research and Media's role in contemporary Sri Lanka was held at the Seminar Room, Vidya Mandiraya (SLAAS building), Vidya Mawatha, Colombo 07 on March 26, 2008 at 3.00 pm.
This event was organized by Institute for Research & Development and ‘Gaveshana' trilingual academic journal to commemorate the 5 th year publication of the Gaveshana journal, an academic journal focusing on building and promoting a sound research culture in Sri Lanka.
The lecture was delivered by Dr. Prasanna Cooray, Director, Panos South Asia. |
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IRD Represents Sri Lanka at Second National Bioethics Conference in Bangalore, India |
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Two research papers on ethics from the IRD were selected for poster presentations at the Second National Bioethics Conference (NBC) of the Indian Journal of Medical Ethics (IJME). The conference was held in Bangalore, India from the 6th to the 8th of December 2007. Dr. Chesmal Siriwardhana of IRD participated in the proceedings as the only person to represent Sri Lanka, in this important conference attended by individuals from the field of bioethics from all over the world.
The two posters based on the abstracts titled; “Informed consent in Sri Lanka : views of ethics committee members” and “ Informed consent in Sri Lanka : review of research conducted in Sri Lanka to understand the progress of informed consent process” were exhibited and presented by Dr. Chesmal Siriwardhana at this conference. These research papers resulted from the IRD research project; Informed Consent in Sri Lanka. |
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| View "The Island" newspaper article |
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Institute for Research and Development at the SLFI Annual Convention |
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The Sri Lanka Foundation Institute (SLFI) annual convention was held at the SLFI premises on 6 th and 7 th November 2007. The theme of the event which was “Right to health with special focus on disaster”. Director IRD, Dr. Athula Sumathipala, delivered the keynote address at the inauguration ceremony of the annual convention.
Institute for Research and Development also organized an information stall for the public at the convention, emphasizing on the work conducted by the IRD on disaster management, disaster victim identification, disaster research ethics and national guideline formulation. The annual convention was marked with various activities such as academic presentations, panel discussions, information stalls, street drama and cultural presentations with the participation of many governmental, non-governmental organizations along with university and school students.
Dr Sumathipala, addressing the gathering said that the WHO constitution definition on health; “a state of complete physical, mental and social well being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity", which by now has become the classical definition on health has run into a serious conceptual level problem where its guiding role is impaired because the conflict between health needs and resources has become of paramount concern, nationally and internationally.
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| View "The Island" newspaper article |
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SPSS data entry and analysis course - Another step taken by IRD for research capacity building |
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The Institute for Research and Development organised a training course on SPSS data entry and analysis at the IRD office premises from 5 th to the 8 th of November 2007 . Although the main aim of the course was improving research capacity of the IRD staff, it was publicised and opened up for others interested in research outside the IRD as well. The course was conducted by Dr. Yulia Kovas and Ms. Harriet Ball of Kings College , University of London.
SPSS stands for Statistical Package for Social Sciences, which is a widely used computer programme for the analysis of research data. The special feature of the course was that it provided hands on experience for the participants by providing them with a real life data base for analysis in a computer provided for each individual. The simplicity of teaching and the comprehensiveness of the areas covered were especially noted by the participants following the completion of the course.
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Lecture on findings in learning abilities and disabilities from a twin study in UK |
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IRD organised a lecture titled; “Learning abilities and disabilities: The latest findings from the Twin's Early Development Study” at the new lecture hall of the Lady Ridgeway hospital, Colombo on 12 th November 2007. The lecture was conducted by Dr. Yulia Kovas (Msc, PhD) of SGDP centre, Kings College, University of London and the event was chaired by Prof. Narada Warnasooriya, Vice Chancellor, University of Sri Jayewardenepura.
The lecture covered important topics in factors influencing learning abilities and disabilities as identified by the Twin's Early Development Study in UK, way in which the results were derived and some basic concepts of the twin method. This lecture was aimed at medical personnel, those in the education field (including teachers) and researchers in general.
Dr. Yulia Kovas is a researcher with specialised expertise in the twin method, learning and development. Other than being a part of the Twin's Early Development Study in UK, she is collaborating with several groundbreaking studies including the CoTASS (Colombo Twin and Singleton Study) conducted by the Sri Lankan Twin Registry (a sister organisation of IRD).
The twin method of research utilises twins to study the nature vs. nurture influences on multitude of human factors. As identical twins are genetically identical, as apposed to non-identical twins; that are only as alike or different as siblings, studying traits of twins is an ideal format to understand the predisposing factor for illnesses, personality traits, intelligence, educational development etc. |
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