Poster Presentation The National Suicide Prevention Conference 2024

UniSC’s Thompson Institute has developed a suite of workplace training offerings that are in high demand, as an offshoot of its award-winning Alliance for Suicide Prevention.

The Alliance began offering workplace training in 2021, and has since trained 2,797 employees across the government, community and private sectors. Initially, the Alliance focussed on suicide alertness and safety planning (LivingWorks’ safeTALK and ASIST), offering these free or highly subsidised to the community through a federal grant.

Through the successful engagement model that underpins the Alliance, we had access to 175 organisations who are Alliance members and therefore committed to upskilling staff in suicide prevention.

It soon became clear that workplaces were facing other training gaps among staff working closely with clients who experience high levels of suicidality.

From regular discussions with organisations, we identified that the university had to step into the mental health promotion and prevention space to give workers more competency to address the factors leading to suicides. For the Sunshine Coast, these factors include anxiety, depression, unemployment, financial stress, substance abuse, relationship breakdown and self-harm (ABS, Causes of Death report, 2022).

Ten new training offerings were created by the Thompson Institute and are now being delivered to workplaces via webinars and face-to-face workshops. Topics include:

• Let’s Talk – upskilling staff in how to notice the signs that someone’s mental health is at risk, ask specific questions, listen without judgement and support action.
• The Neuroscience of Stress and Anxiety – how chronic stress can change the brain and lead to anxiety and depression, and how evidence-based management can prevent this.
• Sleep Refresh – how sleep deficiency can lead to stress, mental illness (circadian depression), poor focus and can drive alcohol misuse and other precursors to suicidal behaviour.

Organisations that have taken up this training include:

• Queensland Department of Transport and Main Roads/Translink
• Sunshine Coast Hospital and Health Service
• Caloundra Chamber of Commerce
• Sunshine Coast Council
• Queensland Department of Communities, Housing and Digital Economy
• IFYS, and many more

Our point of difference is that these trainings are offered in tandem with the suicide prevention workshops, giving organisations a broader understanding of the importance of spotting the early signs of poor mental health as precursors to suicidal behaviour.

Being a university allowed us to quickly build trust with workplaces, as all training is underpinned by neuroscience, which sets us apart from commercial providers and addresses stigmas common in workplaces.