Mission and History

CRISE is an interdisciplinary research centre at the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM), with approximately 20 researchers and over 60 doctoral and post-doctoral students from 7 universities, as well as numerous members from institutions and community organizations in Quebec.

Mission

To work with its partners on suicide prevention and the reduction of its negative effects while encouraging the development and use of interdisciplinary knowledge on suicide, suicide prevention and end-of-life practices.

Goals

  • To develop research on suicide and end-of-life practices
  • To improve the dissemination and application of knowledge on end-of-life practices, suicide and suicide prevention
  • To support the development of research expertise
  • To increase partnerships between researchers, practitioners and program planners in order to promote the development and dissemination of knowledge on suicide and end-of-life practices

History of CRISE

CRISE was developed from the desire of several researchers to share their interests and expertise. Before 1997, Quebec researchers interested in suicidology were relatively isolated. There were few formal structures to promote suicide research and knowledge transfer.

Several professionals, who were UQAM students at the time, including Rachel Bigras, Lucie Charbonneau, François Chagnon, along with Brian Mishara, professor in the department of psychology at UQAM, concluded that an ecological and interdisciplinary approach supported by a research centre would contribute substantially to the development of knowledge on suicide and euthanasia. This approach has the benefit of sharing research expertise from different disciplines with practitioners and planners to better understand the problem of suicide and its prevention.

The founding members mobilized researchers and practitioners from several institutions in collaboration with the Quebec Association for Suicide Prevention (Association québécoise de prévention du suicide, AQPS) to create the Centre for Research and Intervention on Suicide and Euthanasia (CRISE), which changed its name after the legalization of Medical Aid in Dying in Quebec.

Today, CRISE is one of the most active research centers on suicide and end-of-life practices in the world. CRISE projects have received recognition from several granting agencies in Quebec, Canada and the United States.