Understanding Existing Community Networks: Preliminary Findings from Trainees Undertaking an Indigenous Suicide Intervention Training Program Developed in Partnership with Indigenous Communities

Background: To determine the acceptance and effectiveness of a community-led Indigenous suicide-intervention training program, it is essential to identify which people or organizations are being used to seek support or help for an Indigenous person at-risk of suicide.
Objectives: To identify existing social networks among volunteer suicide intervention trainees.
Methods: We conducted social network surveys to identify existing networks between trainees and at-risk youth, communities and support agencies, before they commenced our suicide intervention training program. Qualitative feedback about the training program was also collected.
Findings: Preliminary findings from 50 participants indicate that 44% were Aboriginal, 28% worked for government organizations, 74% had previous personal suicide experiences, 72% had provided support or help to an Indigenous person in the community who was at-risk of suicide and 48% had no previous prevention training. Most frequent contacts used were non-government agencies and mental health professionals: Both were contacted more than six times in the past 6 months by 16% of the participants. Friends (12%) or parents/guardians (12%) contacted participants for help or support more than six times in the last 6 months. Most-likely contact for future support or help were parents/guardians (44%), emergency services (40%) or doctors (40%). Feedback indicated a strong need for a tailored, community-developed approach to suicide prevention training.
Conclusions: Preliminary findings indicate that our community-led program will be beneficial in developing connectedness within communities. Future research will evaluate the effectiveness of the training program after a period of time and will determine the change in connectedness and information flow within participants' social networks.