ENU and Harvard Medical School (USA) will hold a training for school psychologists in Astana as part of an international UN project

The Head of the Department of Psychology at ENU, Aliya Mambetalina, and Michael Gillespie, Senior Vice President for Clinical Services at the Corporation «Children's Hospital» in Boston, USA, representing Harvard University, signed an agreement on consultancy services.

As part of the implementation of the United Nations' third Sustainable Development Goal, "Good Health and Well-being," Kazakhstan has committed to ensuring a healthy lifestyle and promoting well-being for all ages. This commitment can be reflected in the development and implementation of programs to prevent the risk of suicidal behavior among children.

The project, led by PhD Dr. Samantha Avada, a research associate at Harvard Medical School, and Candidate of Psychological Sciences Aliya Mambetalina, Head of the Department of Psychology at ENU, is funded by the Boston Children's Hospital Global Health Program. It aims to strengthen the capacity of psychologists in Kazakhstan in the prevention and management of suicides.

As part of this project, the needs of service providers in the field of children's and adolescents' mental health will be identified regarding screening, assessment, and safety planning related to suicide. Based on this needs assessment and a review of evidence-based safety planning models adapted to Kazakhstan’s conditions, Dr. Avada, Dr. Mambetalina, and Dr. Kardeli will conduct training for school psychologists on December 15–16, 2024, in Astana.

Additionally, the project will work with leaders in school mental health in Kazakhstan to discuss implementing data collection approaches to create a quality improvement framework within healthcare systems. This framework will measure the effectiveness of new approaches to suicide screening and intervention.