Psycho-social resilience, vulnerability and suicide prevention: impact evaluation of a mentoring approach to modify suicide risk for remote Indigenous Australian students at boarding school

Abstract

BackgroundThe proposed study was developed in response to increased suicide risk identified in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students who are compelled to attend boarding schools across Queensland when there is no secondary schooling provision in their remote home communities. It will investigate the impact of a multicomponent mentoring intervention to increase levels of psychosocial resilience. We aim to test the null hypothesis that students’ resilience is not positively influenced by the intervention. The 5-year project was funded by the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council from December 2014.Methods/DesignAn integrated mixed methods approach will be adopted; each component iteratively informing the other. Using an interrupted time series design, the primary research methods are quantitative: 1) assessment of change in students’ resilience, educational outcomes and suicide risk; and 2) calculation of costs of the intervention. Secondary methods are qualitative: 3) a grounded theoretical model of the process of enhancing students’ psychosocial resilience to protect against suicide. Additionally, there is a tertiary focus on capacity development: more experienced researchers in the team will provide research mentorship to less experienced researchers through regular meetings; while Indigenous team members provide cultural mentorship in research practices to non-Indigenous members.DiscussionAustralia’s suicide prevention policy is progressive but a strong service delivery model is lacking, particularly for Indigenous peoples. The proposed research will potentially improve students’ levels of resilience to mitigate against suicide risk. Additionally, it could reduce the economic and social costs of Indigenous youth suicide by obtaining agreement on what is good suicide prevention practice for remote Indigenous students who transition to boarding schools for education, and identifying the benefits-costs of an evidence-based multi-component mentoring intervention to improve resilience.

Reservation‐Urban Comparison of Suicidal Ideation/Planning and Attempts in American Indian Youth

“…Many tribal youth struggle with these issues. It would be important to also engage community resources for support, including working with community leaders, teachers, and American Indian college students as mentors . School screenings for at‐risk students could be conducted in collaboration with tribal organizations.…”

Integrating Healthcare Services for Indigenous Australian Students at Boarding Schools: A Mixed-Methods Sequential Explanatory Study

“…This study focuses on the health, healthcare service use and satisfaction of a cohort of Indigenous remote-dwelling north Queensland students who are required to attend boarding schools for secondary education because there is limited or no secondary schooling available in their home communities. It forms part of a broader ecological study to support and enhance the resilience of these students; other papers have provided a study protocol [22], descriptions of the survey development and validation [23,24], description of staff capacity development [25] and student survey baseline results [26]. Anecdotal evidence (2016) attained through this broader resilience study suggested that some students had untreated health conditions upon arrival at or during boarding school education, and/or experienced patchy care between remote home community and schoolbased healthcare services.…”

Measuring Resilience and Risk Factors for the Psychosocial Well-being of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Boarding School Students: Pilot Baseline Study Results

“…Informed by research (2015-2016), the service is shifting to an ecological, resilience-focused 1 Traditional place of family origin. approach (Kitchener and Jorm, 2008;Tsey et al, 2010;Ungar and Liebenberg, 2011;McCalman et al, 2016). In addition to working with students, TSS staff engage with families, boarding schools, and partner services to support students' adjustment, orientation, and students' ongoing stay at boarding school.…”

“…The 5-year Resilience Study was developed in partnership with TSS in response to identified self-harm and suicide risk for transitioning students (McCalman et al, 2016). It was funded by the National Health and Medical Research Council from December 2014.…”

“…Yet for the almost one quarter of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (hereafter respectfully, Indigenous) Queenslanders, who reside in remote or very remote communities (Office of Economic and Statistical Research, 2013), there is limited or no locally available secondary schooling. More than 500 Indigenous students from remote Cape York and Palm Island communities in Queensland, therefore, have to leave their community and country 1 to attend boarding school for secondary education (Department of Education and Training, 2016;McCalman et al, 2016). These students are a subset of 4,000 Indigenous adolescents across Australia who attend boarding schools (Pearson, 2011;Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2013a,b).…”