Translating research into action: The design and development of an Indigenous specific suicide intervention skills training program (I-ASIST)

Abstract

Note: We respectfully refer to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people as Indigenous in this study.

Objective: To design and develop an Indigenous specific suicide intervention skills program that focuses on education and intervention training as an effective suicide prevention strategy.

Method: Using a co-designed wrap-around framework, we developed a program in collaboration with >90 communities, stakeholders and service providers across Australia to understand knowledge, awareness and sense of connectedness between at-risk groups and health services or support groups.

Results: The I-ASIST training provides participants with the necessary skills and knowledge to apply a suicide intervention model. The framework behind the intervention model provides caregivers the awareness to recognise when someone may be at risk of suicide. It then gives them the skills to connect with a person at risk of suicide and to understand and clarify that risk, steps to keep that person safe for a specific period and then provide them with the resources or links required for further help. The program enables the development of knowledge through interactive strategies through cultural recognition and empowerment of participants. Based on a social-enterprise model, I-ASIST has been translated into a certified program supported by LivingWorks Australia.

Conclusion: Based on a strengths-based and self-determination model of co-design, this grass roots innovative framework creates suicide safer communities.

Keywords: Aboriginal and Torres Strait islander; Indigenous Australians; suicide; suicide intervention; suicide prevention.