Development of A Suicide Prevention Training Module for Social Work Students in India
Introduction: Social workers constitute a significant task force that serves diverse populations experiencing psychosocial challenges in their daily lives. Lack of suicide prevention content/training in the Master of Social Work program may affect the student’s self-esteem/ability to intervene when...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
SAGE Publishing
2024-03-01
|
| Series: | Indian Journal of Psychological Medicine |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1177/02537176231223305 |
| _version_ | 1797236957233807360 |
|---|---|
| author | Bharath Rathinam Anish V. Cherian Santosh Loganathan Prabha S. Chandra Gregory Armstrong |
| author_facet | Bharath Rathinam Anish V. Cherian Santosh Loganathan Prabha S. Chandra Gregory Armstrong |
| author_sort | Bharath Rathinam |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Introduction: Social workers constitute a significant task force that serves diverse populations experiencing psychosocial challenges in their daily lives. Lack of suicide prevention content/training in the Master of Social Work program may affect the student’s self-esteem/ability to intervene when they come across a person with suicidality in the field. Developing a suicide prevention training module for social work students would be a suitable measure for upbringing their skills in dealing with individuals with suicidality. Method: The purpose of the present study was to develop a suicide prevention training module for social work students at the postgraduate level. The researcher conducted two Focused Group Discussions (FGD) each with social work students ( n = 13) and social work educators ( n = 15) on an online platform. Notes were taken during the discussion, and the contents were videotaped. The videotaped content was transcribed, and content analysis was used to analyze the data. The content that emerged from the FGD with social work students and educators was discussed in later FGD with mental health experts (two psychiatrists, one psychologist, two psychiatric social workers, and two mental health nurses). The discussion with experts clarified what components to retain for the training program. Results: Five major themes and 22 sub-themes emerged from the two FGDs each with students and educators, and one FGD with mental health professionals are described. The five major themes were understanding of suicidality, understanding suicide education in the master of social work curriculum, experience with suicidality, training content suggestion, and suggestions for future implications. Conclusions: The present study identified the need for suicide prevention training in postgraduate-level social work students. Furthermore, a lack of suicide prevention training was observed indicating the incorporation of suicide education in the postgraduate curriculum. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-24T17:12:06Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-d6669598c54b4d42b745c81ef6fe190c |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 0253-7176 0975-1564 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-24T17:12:06Z |
| publishDate | 2024-03-01 |
| publisher | SAGE Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Indian Journal of Psychological Medicine |
| spelling | doaj.art-d6669598c54b4d42b745c81ef6fe190c2024-03-28T10:04:11ZengSAGE PublishingIndian Journal of Psychological Medicine0253-71760975-15642024-03-014610.1177/02537176231223305Development of A Suicide Prevention Training Module for Social Work Students in IndiaBharath Rathinam0Anish V. Cherian1Santosh Loganathan2Prabha S. Chandra3Gregory Armstrong4 Dept. of Psychiatric Social Work, National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences (NIMHANS), Institute of National Importance, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India. Dept. of Psychiatric Social Work, National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences (NIMHANS), Institute of National Importance, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India. Dept. of Psychiatry, National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences (NIMHANS), Institute of National Importance, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India. Dept. of Psychiatry, National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences (NIMHANS), Institute of National Importance, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India. Nossal Institute of Global Health, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.Introduction: Social workers constitute a significant task force that serves diverse populations experiencing psychosocial challenges in their daily lives. Lack of suicide prevention content/training in the Master of Social Work program may affect the student’s self-esteem/ability to intervene when they come across a person with suicidality in the field. Developing a suicide prevention training module for social work students would be a suitable measure for upbringing their skills in dealing with individuals with suicidality. Method: The purpose of the present study was to develop a suicide prevention training module for social work students at the postgraduate level. The researcher conducted two Focused Group Discussions (FGD) each with social work students ( n = 13) and social work educators ( n = 15) on an online platform. Notes were taken during the discussion, and the contents were videotaped. The videotaped content was transcribed, and content analysis was used to analyze the data. The content that emerged from the FGD with social work students and educators was discussed in later FGD with mental health experts (two psychiatrists, one psychologist, two psychiatric social workers, and two mental health nurses). The discussion with experts clarified what components to retain for the training program. Results: Five major themes and 22 sub-themes emerged from the two FGDs each with students and educators, and one FGD with mental health professionals are described. The five major themes were understanding of suicidality, understanding suicide education in the master of social work curriculum, experience with suicidality, training content suggestion, and suggestions for future implications. Conclusions: The present study identified the need for suicide prevention training in postgraduate-level social work students. Furthermore, a lack of suicide prevention training was observed indicating the incorporation of suicide education in the postgraduate curriculum.https://doi.org/10.1177/02537176231223305 |
| spellingShingle | Bharath Rathinam Anish V. Cherian Santosh Loganathan Prabha S. Chandra Gregory Armstrong Development of A Suicide Prevention Training Module for Social Work Students in India Indian Journal of Psychological Medicine |
| title | Development of A Suicide Prevention Training Module for Social Work Students in India |
| title_full | Development of A Suicide Prevention Training Module for Social Work Students in India |
| title_fullStr | Development of A Suicide Prevention Training Module for Social Work Students in India |
| title_full_unstemmed | Development of A Suicide Prevention Training Module for Social Work Students in India |
| title_short | Development of A Suicide Prevention Training Module for Social Work Students in India |
| title_sort | development of a suicide prevention training module for social work students in india |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1177/02537176231223305 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT bharathrathinam developmentofasuicidepreventiontrainingmoduleforsocialworkstudentsinindia AT anishvcherian developmentofasuicidepreventiontrainingmoduleforsocialworkstudentsinindia AT santoshloganathan developmentofasuicidepreventiontrainingmoduleforsocialworkstudentsinindia AT prabhaschandra developmentofasuicidepreventiontrainingmoduleforsocialworkstudentsinindia AT gregoryarmstrong developmentofasuicidepreventiontrainingmoduleforsocialworkstudentsinindia |