Staff Perspectives of Safety Planning as a Suicide Prevention Intervention for People of Refugee and Asylum-Seeker Background

Monika Ferguson; Miriam Posselt; Heather McIntyre; Mark Loughhead; Mary-Anne Kenny; Vicki Mau; Nicholas Procter

doi:10.1027/0227-5910/a000781

Staff Perspectives of Safety Planning as a Suicide Prevention Intervention for People of Refugee and Asylum-Seeker Background

Crisis. 2022 Jul;43(4):331-338. doi: 10.1027/0227-5910/a000781. Epub 2021 May 4.

Authors

Monika Ferguson¹, Miriam Posselt², Heather McIntyre¹, Mark Loughhead¹, Mary-Anne Kenny³, Vicki Mau⁴, Nicholas Procter¹

Affiliations

¹ UniSA Clinical and Health Sciences, University of South Australia, Adelaide, SA, Australia.
² Survivors of Torture and Trauma Assistance and Rehabilitation Service, Adelaide, SA, Australia.
³ School of Law, Murdoch University, Murdoch, WA, Australia.
⁴ Australian Red Cross, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.

Abstract

Background: Safety planning involves the co-development of a personalized list of coping strategies to prevent a suicide crisis. Aims: We explored the perspectives of workers regarding safety planning as a suicide prevention strategy for people of refugee background and those seeking asylum in Australia. Method: Participants attended suicide prevention training, specific to refugees and asylum seekers, at which safety planning was a key component. Semistructured, posttraining interviews (n = 12) were analyzed thematically. Results: Four key themes were identified: safety planning as a co-created, personalized activity for the client; therapeutic benefits of developing a safety plan; barriers to engaging in safety planning; strategies to enhance safety planning engagement. Limitations: First-hand refugee and asylum-seeker experiences were not included. Conclusion: As a relatively low-cost, flexible intervention, safety planning may be valuable and effective for these groups.

Keywords: asylum seekers; refugees; safety planning; suicide prevention.

MeSH terms

Australia
Humans
Refugees*
Suicide Prevention*

Grants and funding

Funding: This project resulted from a crowdfunding campaign. We acknowledge and thank the more than 100 donors who contributed to this project. Specifically, we thank our lead partners and donors – The University of South Australia and Australian Red Cross – as well as major donors – Multicultural Development Association (Queensland) and AMES Australia (Victoria).