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SIG Webinars
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SIG SERVICE DEVELOPMENT AND DELIVERY International Mapping of Forensic Mental Health Practices Marichelle Leclair, Arianne Imbeault, Brian McKenna, Tonia Nicholls, Anne Crocker, & Lindsay Thomson Date: March 24, 07:00 AM Pacific Time This webinar presents findings from an international Delphi project conducted by members of the IAFMHS Special Interest Group on Service Development and Delivery. Reflecting the SIG’s mandate to learn from and compare service models, strengthen the evidence base for forensic mental health service delivery, and establish meaningful benchmarks, the project sought to establish a shared definition of forensic mental health services and to identify core principles and components of high-quality service provision that are applicable across diverse jurisdictions. Using the Delphi method and drawing on the perspectives of 24 international experts, including people with lived experience and professionals from clinical, managerial, and academic backgrounds, the consensus framework outlines guiding principles and consensus statements across thematic domains, including models of care, service pathways and processes, and programs and activities. The webinar will focus on how this framework can be used in practice to support the development, delivery, and evaluation of forensic mental health services while also highlighting areas of ongoing debate, including the role of lived experience expertise, the integration of cultural knowledge, and the balance between descriptive and aspirational elements within service systems. The session is intended to support reflection, discussion, and practical application within forensic mental health services. Presenter Marichelle Leclair, PhD, is an assistant professor at the Université du Québec en Outaouais and a researcher at the Institut national de psychiatrie légale Philippe-Pinel. With a background in psychology and public health, her work focuses on addressing systemic violence at the intersection of health and justice. She leads participatory, community-partnered research with Indigenous knowledge keepers and community partners, people with lived experience, families, service providers, and policymakers to help transform systems still shaped by stigma, coercion, and exclusion. Through collaborations in Canada, Aotearoa New Zealand, and Scotland, Marichelle conducts fieldwork and helps design new models of care that can inform policy, practice, and system reform. Across all her projects, she’s committed to research that doesn’t just describe systems but works to change them. |
📚 PAST WEBINARS 💻
SIG FORNEUROTECH Introduction to the new SIG FORNEUROTECH (Dr. Josanne van Dongen) Date: 24 November 2025 This webinar was presented by Dr. Josanne van Dongen, who is currently appointed as associate professor of forensic psychology at the Erasmus University Rotterdam where she is the program lead for the forensic education in the master specialization of Forensic and Legal Psychology. Josanne is currently appointed as a member of the Board of Directors of the International Association of Forensic Mental health Services, co-chair of the special interest group FORNEUROTECH, and member of the Mental Health Law and Policy Institute (Simon Fraser University). She is also the program lead of the Regional Knowledge Hub for Concerning and Challenging Behaviour) in which she collaborates with policy makers at different municipalities, healthcare institutions, police, experts by experience and other organizations. SIG Family Engagement Introducing the new Special Interest Group on Family Engagement! You can access the PowerPoint slides here. Date: 23 April 2025 Policy papers and guidelines at international levels stipulate that family members in mental health settings should be actively involved in the care and treatment of the service user and supported in their role as carers. Within a forensic context, family engagement has gained interest over the years. Nonetheless, there remains a limited focus on evidence-based practices on how to collaborate with, involve, and support family members in the care trajectory of their loved one. To address this gap, an international network on Family Engagement has been established to bring together a group of (family) peers, academics, and practitioners with a shared interest in this topic. During this live webinar session, we will introduce the goals of this newly formed Special Interest Group (SIG) on Family Engagement as well as provide an overview on the existing research on the topics of of family interventions, family support, family recovery processes, and family perspectives. Finally, we will share some future research initiatives to further the international research and evidence-based practice in this field. The webinar will wrap up with a Q&A session and ways you can get involved as a family (peer), researcher, or practitioner. SIG Forensic Mental Health Nursing Assessing and Managing Inpatient Aggression (Dr. Tess Maguire) You can access all related resources here. Date: 22 October 2024 Despite reform work and introduction of various measures and policies, inpatient aggression remains a significant and seemingly difficult issue to address in forensic mental health settings. In this presentation I will discuss the evidence-base for effective skills for prevention of aggression including use of a validated risk assessment instrument, the Dynamic Appraisal of Situational Aggression, linked to an Aggression Prevention Protocol (APP), to structure intervention following assessment of risk. In addition, I will also suggest other models and frameworks designed to assist forensic mental health staff to understand and respond to aggression and consider how these relate to structured risk assessment activities and clinical decision-making. This webinar was presented by Dr Tess Maguire, Senior Lecturer Forensic Mental Health Nursing, Centre for Forensic Behavioural Science, Swinburne University of Technology, and a Member-at-Large of the IAFMHS Board of Directors, and sponsored by the Forensic Mental Health Nursing Special Interest Group. The webinar does have a nursing focus but will be relevant for other disciplines and management roles as well. Learning objectives
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