An evaluation of suicide prevention education for people working with refugees and asylum seekers

Procter, N., Posselt, M., Ferguson, M., McIntyre, H., Kenny, M.A., Curtis, R., Loughhead, M., Clement, N. and Mau, V. (2021) An evaluation of suicide prevention education for people working with refugees and asylum seekers. Crisis .

Abstract

Background: There are concerning rates of suicidality among asylum seekers and refugees in Australia, and tailored suicide prevention initiatives are needed. Aims: We aimed to evaluate the impact of a tailored suicide prevention education program for people working with asylum seekers and refugees. Method: Attendees of the education program completed self-report questionnaires at pretraining, posttraining, and 4–6 months follow-up. Results: Over 400 workers, volunteers, and students across Australia took part in the education program. A series of linear mixed-effects models revealed significant improvements in outcome measures from pretraining (n = 247) to posttraining (n = 231). Improvements were maintained at follow-up (n = 75). Limitations: Limitations of this research were the lack of a control group and a low follow-up response rate. Conclusion: Findings suggest that a 2 days tailored suicide prevention education program contributes to significant improvements in workers’ attitudes toward suicide prevention, and their confidence and competence in assessing and responding to suicidal distress.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Murdoch Affiliation(s):	School of Law
Publisher:	hogrefe eContent
Copyright:	© 2021 Hogrefe Publishing
URI:	http://researchrepository.murdoch.edu.au/id/eprint/60958

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