Our prioritiesPriority four: Continuous Improvement
We will monitor and evaluate the impact of our strategy at an organisational and individual level. It's crucial that our strategy is long-term and sustainable.
Our project structure is designed to create and promote a whole-university approach to suicide prevention, and is in line with Universities UK guidance on making it an institutional priority.
Our clear line of communication between our External Advisory Group and our Project Board ensures our strategy is continually informed by ‘critical’ subject expertise.
Sustainability
4.1. The suicide project structure, which demonstrates clear and visible support from senior leadership, will remain and will ensure our efforts are sustainable and flexible.
4.2. Our Suicide Prevention Implementation and Evaluation phase will align with the objectives of the newly formed Student Mental Health Strategy Group, which adheres to the guidelines in the Stepchange Mentally Healthy Universities Framework.
4.3. Encourage active participation of staff in the suicide safer working groups and training through the University’s Annual Development Review process.
4.4. A co-production approach to strategy documents and supporting projects will remain a focus.
4.5. Create a specific self-harm policy for staff and students linked to the Scottish Government Self-Harm Strategy and Action Plan 2023-2027.
4.6. An Equality Impact Assessment will be a standing item throughout our implementation and evaluation phases of the project.
4.7. The strategy will interact with wider University policies and strategies, recognising that there are many shared objectives.
Spotlight: External Advisory Group
Our External Advisory Group (EAG) has a key role in providing oversight and accountability to our strategy. Their specialised knowledge in suicide prevention, lived and living experience and public health ensures we can make our strategy inclusive, addressing the needs of different populations while working towards our priority areas.
The EAG Chair Tony McLaren, National Coordinator of Breathing Space, (NHS 24) commented:
It is our commitment to continue the work of the EAG throughout the implementation, operational delivery and evaluation of the suicide safer work at the University of Strathclyde ensuring we adapt creatively and with good judgement where necessary.
Evaluation
4.8. Use systems effectively to collect feedback and data from all our internal Mental Health and Wellbeing training included in our Knowledge and Skills Framework (KSF).
4.9. Develop a process for internal recording of all deaths by suicide. This will be the foundation of our suicide review process.
4.10. Create a robust process for reviewing suicides at the University, considering the national context and guidance provided by Universities UK.
4.11. Remove barriers to accessing training wherever possible and explore further opportunities to bring external training onto our systems for monitoring and evaluation purposes.
4.12. Carry out a full impact evaluation report over the next five years to measure the effectiveness of the training/KSF at both an individual and organisational level. A particular focus will be on at-risk groups.
4.13. Use data from referrals and support platforms such as Nightline and Spectrum. Life to inform the provision of support services, making them specific to the needs of our community.
4.14. Promote a compassionate culture that enables a proactive and early response to a person’s situation through early recognition, communication, action planning, recording and information sharing.
4.15. Build on our model of co-production, where students and staff actively contribute to the design and evaluation of suicide safer projects.
4.16. Further develop our capacity to deliver and monitor the ‘What’s the Harm’ self-harm training, whilst making it more specific to our setting.
Spotlight: Self-Harm
We know the relationship between self-harm and suicide is complex, but research highlights that those who self-harm are at a far greater risk of suicide than the general population. The report prepared by NHSGGC Mental Health Improvement team details how we developed and began to monitor self-harm local training delivery within the University.
Research
Community-based suicide prevention activities primarily focus on identifying and supporting people who are at increased risk of suicidal thoughts and behaviours, promoting long-term recovery for those who are experiencing suicidal thinking or have engaged in suicidal behaviours, and supporting those who have experienced a suicide loss.
To ensure our suicide prevention plan has mental health equity embedded in all our activities, we must include research within the scope of our plan. We will use the IMV model as a tool to inform our research. This theoretically informed work will allow us to continue to build our understanding of the factors which make a person more likely to have thoughts of suicide, and to examine what factors impact whether these thoughts are acted upon.
This work, alongside the broader research evidence base, will be used to inform our service delivery and suicide prevention efforts, including communication and training. As a result, research updates will be provided to the Project Board on a regular basis.
Our research will:
4.17. Focus on understanding which identities, characteristics and situations will increase the risk of feeling defeated and entrapped for our university population.
4.18. Examine how we best tailor our services to meet the needs of our diverse staff and student community, with a specific focus on reducing feelings of defeat and entrapment.
4.19. Investigate how we can increase help-seeking for those who are least likely to ask for help.
4.20. Determine what we can do at Strathclyde to stop people from acting on any thoughts of suicide they might experience.
4.21. Explore the effectiveness of our training through building evaluation into all training where feasible.