Changes in prospective helpline volunteers' suicide intervention skills throughout the initial training

Skruibis, Paulius; Astrauskas, Kasparas; Mažulytė-Rašytinė, Eglė

doi:10.1080/07481187.2019.1671538

Cited by 7 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…Introducing training sessions, through the BCT restructuring the physical environment, might alleviate both these barriers, increasing volunteers' skills and their confidence in answering emails. Recent studies, for example, found that offering training on specific helpline skills improves volunteers' ability to offer support [19], as well as acting as a motivational factor promoting volunteers' retention [46].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Barriers and Enablers to the Delivery of Email Communication for a Helpline Service for Young People

Campagnola

Burlibasa

Gutman

2022

Preprint

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Barriers and Enablers to the Delivery of Email Communication for a Helpline Service for Young People

Campagnola

Burlibasa

Gutman

2022

Preprint

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“…As adequate training is necessary for engagement and retention of volunteers (Hidalgo, 2009; Skoglund, 2006), the high turnover of TCS workers also indicates the need to examine the literature on crisis support training. Previous research indicates that TCS workers are satisfied with crisis support training and that their knowledge and skills improve significantly as a result of training (Skruibis et al, 2019; Yang Dong et al, 2016). Despite this, the largest attrition of volunteers occurs following training, with research suggesting that around 24% of trainee TCS workers do not advance to the phones after training (Bennett, 2011).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring experiences of a telephone crisis support workplace training program in Australia

Gilmore

Saheb

Reis

2022

Health Social Care Comm

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Telephone crisis support (TCS) is considered by the World Health Organization to be an integral part of an effective suicide prevention framework. However, as TCS lines worldwide are primarily staffed by volunteers, they frequently experience high staff turnover impacting on their ability to provide crucial crisis counselling to the population. One group that has been identified as potentially lessening staff shortages is university students, who may be attracted to TCS as a way to gain professional experience and qualifications. However, challenges are associated with the recruitment of this cohort, due to the potential impacts working in crisis support may have on the well-being of a group that is identified as being at higher risk of poor mental health. This study used semi-structured interviews, conducted between March and May 2020, to explore university students' experiences of a Crisis Support Workplace Training Program. It included 16 university students who completed (fully or partially) the training programme. Thematic analysis was used to identify patterns across the dataset. NVivo 12© was used throughout the analysis to assist with organisation and coding of data. Two overarching themes were identified: 1) Becoming and being the role, and 2) Experiencing and managing barriers to helping. Results illustrate how students experienced varying levels of distress due to empathetic engagement with callers, while also highlight the impact of students' experiences on the development of their professional identities. This study is amongst the first to examine the perceptions and experiences of training for and delivering TCS, and the first to focus specifically on university students as volunteer workers. The study's findings highlight the challenges participants face in undertaking crisis support training and our discussions provide a range of recommendations for future practice and research.

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“…These trainings focus on basic skills in recognizing warning signs, asking questions, and referring people to clinical care, with a goal of preventing suicide through community-based intervention. Preliminary evidence suggests that existing layperson-facing suicide prevention trainings have increased knowledge, self-efficacy, and the ability to intervene with at-risk individuals (Clark et al, 2010; Cross et al, 2007; Hall & Gabor, 2004; Matthieu et al, 2006; Matthieu et al, 2008; Mishara et al, 2016; Morris et al, 1999; Skruibis et al, 2019; Stuart et al, 2003); however, the research literature has been critiqued for lack of rigor (Kutcher et al, 2017). Trainings have ranged from briefer 1- to 8-hour experiences (Clark et al, 2010; Cross et al, 2007; Matthieu et al, 2006; Morris et al, 1999) to intensive trainings occurring over multiple days (Stuart et al, 2003) or months (Skruibis et al, 2019).…”

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confidence: 99%

“…Preliminary evidence suggests that existing layperson-facing suicide prevention trainings have increased knowledge, self-efficacy, and the ability to intervene with at-risk individuals (Clark et al, 2010; Cross et al, 2007; Hall & Gabor, 2004; Matthieu et al, 2006; Matthieu et al, 2008; Mishara et al, 2016; Morris et al, 1999; Skruibis et al, 2019; Stuart et al, 2003); however, the research literature has been critiqued for lack of rigor (Kutcher et al, 2017). Trainings have ranged from briefer 1- to 8-hour experiences (Clark et al, 2010; Cross et al, 2007; Matthieu et al, 2006; Morris et al, 1999) to intensive trainings occurring over multiple days (Stuart et al, 2003) or months (Skruibis et al, 2019). The lengthiness of many suicide trainings has been described as an important barrier to improving their adoption and spread (Ubido & Scott-Samuel, 2014).…”

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confidence: 99%

“…The lengthiness of many suicide trainings has been described as an important barrier to improving their adoption and spread (Ubido & Scott-Samuel, 2014). Nonclinical workers such as school employees (Clark et al, 2010; Stuart et al, 2003), helpline workers (Matthieu et al, 2006; Mishara et al, 2016; Skruibis et al, 2019), hospital staff (Cross et al, 2007; Matthieu et al, 2008; Morriss et al, 1999), and prison inmates (Hall & Gabor, 2004) have been trained using these approaches, but not veteran volunteers. In a review of gatekeeper suicide prevention literature conducted by Burnette et al (2015), four gatekeeper trainings designed for military personnel were found.…”

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Immediate Impact of a Brief Suicide Prevention Training for Veteran Volunteers

Lapidos

Spinner

Garlick

et al. 2021

Pedagogy in Health Promotion

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Introduction. The concern that talking about suicide may intensify suicidal ideation is a common fear that has been dispelled by research, yet still lingers in popular consciousness. The aim of the current initiative was to develop a brief suicide prevention training for volunteers in a peer support program for veterans, given that layperson-facing approaches are critical to the U.S. national strategy for suicide prevention. Method. The study team adapted existing pedagogical approaches for use in a brief training and for a veteran population, and implemented the training with five new volunteer groups over 5 months ( N = 45). Results. Anonymous pre- and posttraining questionnaires indicated immediate statistically significant improvements in self-reported preparation to talk openly about suicide, likelihood of asking about suicide, confidence in recognizing warning signs of suicide, and confidence in intervening and involving the National Suicide Hotline. Discussion. The project begins to demonstrate that self-reported suicide prevention knowledge and skills show immediate improvements after a brief training module nested within a broader new volunteer training. This work should support efforts to develop and implement research studies on brief suicide prevention training approaches in order to determine the extent to which they change behavior longitudinally and, ultimately, reduce rates of suicide.

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Changes in prospective helpline volunteers' suicide intervention skills throughout the initial training

Cited by 7 publications

References 14 publications

Barriers and Enablers to the Delivery of Email Communication for a Helpline Service for Young People

Barriers and Enablers to the Delivery of Email Communication for a Helpline Service for Young People

Exploring experiences of a telephone crisis support workplace training program in Australia

Immediate Impact of a Brief Suicide Prevention Training for Veteran Volunteers

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