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Introduction about Suicide Prevention Programs
Current situation in Vietnam
Suicide Prevention Programs in the world
Gate-keeper Training Programs
Current situation in Vietnam
- Suicidal thoughts in age groups (MOH, 2010) • 18 – 21: 4.4% • 14 – 17: 4.1% • 22 – 25: 3.8%
+ Suicidal thoughts and attempts appear the most in Dien Bien due to pressures around school drop-out and early marriage (Truong, 2017, UNICEF Vietnam) - Vietnamese youth attempted suicide: increased by 6.9% after a decade
- “The real suicide rate in Vietnam is still unknown, because the number of deaths reported by the Ministry of Health is based only on hospital data. However, most suicides occur outside the hospital system. There is no national system to monitor causes of death, including suicide, in Vietnam.” (Tran and Pham, 2009)
- Mental disorders: 9.4% of the investigated suicide patients in hospital age 10 – 19 have mental illness (Ngo and Do, 2023) Depression
“Students with depressive symptoms have a 6.64 times higher risk of suicidal ideation” (Tran et al., 2020)
31.7% of students aged between 13 – 17 had depressive symptoms (Tran et al., 2020)
- Gender:
71.9% of the investigated suicide patients in hospital who aged 10 – 19 were female (Ngo and Do, 2023)
“with women almost twice as likely in some studies to have suicidal ideation compared with males (Blum et al., 2012; Huong, 2009; Thanh et al., 2005; MOH, 2005; MOH et al., 2010).” (UNICEF Vietnam, 2017)
- Living environment:
Family (ref. Ngo & Do, 2023)
53.1% of adolescents who died by suicide were living with parents
59.4% of adolescents who died by suicide have parents with a challenged relationship with each other.
68.7% of adolescents who died by suicide have conflicts with their parents School:
46.9% of adolescents“Academic pressure, romantic relationships, bullying, school connectedness and school location were all risk factors for suicidal ideation. As a result of a highly competitive school environment, children felt pressure from teachers, parents and peers to excel academically”; (UNICEF Vietnam, 2017)who died by suicide have good to very good academic ability (Ngo and Do, 2023)
Location(urban/rural):
“In the SAVY II findings (MOH, 2010), for instance, more urban (5.4%) than rural youth (3.6%) had thoughts of suicide, and younger cohorts were more likely to report suicidal ideation”; (UNICEF Vietnam, 2017)
78.1% of adolescentswho died by suicide lived in urban areas
(Ngo and Do, 2023)
- Since the rate of suicide in Vietnam held low, there are ot many actions taken place to prevent suicide
- There are hotlines that people can call to share about their problems. For children, they can call 111 to ask for help. Hotlines like this can help people reduce stress & lower the probability of them developing depression – a key risk factor of suicide
- Vietnam has also informed its citizens via various websites to raise people’s awareness of suicide (such as symptoms of someone intending to commit suicide, guidelines for those who try to help suicidal people, etc.)
In the private sector, there are more and more mental health improvement groups and organizations operating in Vietnam and by the Vietnamese. Some of them have started discussing suicide and suicide prevention, especially among adolescents and young adults. Below are some links to such organizations.
https://www.hopefulhorizons.org/
https://www.reach.edu.vn/about-us.html
Suicide Prevention Programs in the world
Suicide Prevention Programs in the world
Suicide Prevention Programs vary significantly from one country to another. These programs aim to reduce the risk of suicide & provide support to individuals who may be struggling with suicidal thoughts or behaviors. Here is a general summary of common components & strategies used in suicide prevention programs worldwide.
Crisis Helplines
Many countries have crisis helplines like the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline in the United States, which provide immediate support to individuals in distress.
Education and Awareness
Suicide prevention programs often focus on raising awareness about mental health issues, reducing stigma, and promoting early intervention.
Training for Healthcare Professionals
Training programs for healthcare providers, including physicians, psychologists, and counselors, are crucial in identifying and helping individuals at risk.
Gatekeeper Training
These programs train non-professionals, such as teachers, coaches, and community members, to recognize signs of suicide risk and offer support.
Mental Health Services
Access to mental health services is essential, including counseling, therapy, and psychiatric care for those at risk.
Community-Based Initiatives:
Community organizations, schools, and local government agencies often collaborate to provide resources and support for individuals at risk.
Restricting Access to Lethal Means
Efforts are made to limit access to highly lethal methods of suicide, such as firearms, pesticides, and medications.
Media Guidelines:
Some countries have guidelines for responsible media reporting to avoid sensationalizing suicides, which can lead to “copycat” incidents.
Research and Data Collection
Ongoing research helps identify trends and high-risk populations, allowing for more targeted prevention efforts.
Support for At-Risk Populations
Some programs are tailored to specific at-risk populations, such as veterans, LGBTQ+ individuals, and youth.
Online and Text-Based Support
Digital platforms and text-based crisis intervention services are increasingly common, offering immediate assistance to those in need.
Postvention Programs
These programs provide support to individuals affected by suicide, aiming to reduce the risk of “contagion” and help survivors cope with their loss.
Policy & Legislation
Legislation can play a role in regulating access to firearms, means restriction, and the availability of mental health services.
Gate-keeper Training Programs
Gate-keeper Training Programs
Gatekeeper training programs are designed to teach individuals who are not mental health professionals to recognize the warning signs of someone at risk of suicide and to take appropriate action. These programs are crucial in suicide prevention efforts. Some well-known gatekeeper training programs include:
These programs are typically available to a wide range of community members, including teachers, coaches, first responders, and other non-mental health professionals. The specific program chosen may depend on factors such as the target audience, available resources, and the training duration required. It’s important for gatekeepers to be aware of the resources available in their local area and how to connect individuals in crisis to appropriate help.
Read More
QPR is a popular gatekeeper training program that provides participants with the skills to identify warning signs, ask someone about their suicidal thoughts, persuade them to seek help, and refer them to appropriate resources.
Read More
ASIST (Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training): ASIST is a comprehensive, two-day workshop that teaches caregivers how to intervene with a person at risk of suicide. It focuses on suicide first aid and enhancing the caregiver’s skills.
Read More
SafeTALK is a half-day training program that helps participants become more aware of the signs of suicide risk and how to engage with individuals who may be struggling. It aims to create a “suicide-alert community.
Read More
While not exclusively a gatekeeper training program, Mental Health First Aid teaches participants to recognize and respond to mental health crises, including suicidal thoughts. It covers a wide range of mental health issues.
Read More
LivingWorks Start is an online, interactive training program designed to help participants recognize when someone is thinking about suicide and connect them with appropriate resources.
Read More
ASIST-IC is a version of ASIST adapted for use in Indigenous communities, respecting cultural and community-specific contexts.
Read More
While not a traditional gatekeeper training program, Crisis Text Line offers resources on how to help a friend who may be in crisis. They focus on communication and support.
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“Suicide and self-inflicted injuries represent a significant public health problem. For community-based suicide prevention programs, theory-driven research on Gatekeeper training and its effectiveness remains limited. This paper describes the QPR Gatekeeper Training for Suicide Prevention program, its theoretical basis, the three-step CPR-like intervention and implications for the detection of new, untreated at-risk cases in defined communities. QPR stands for how to Question, Persuade and Refer someone emitting suicide warning signs. The QPR intervention is contextualized within the published literature on brief but beneficial public health and clinical interventions and anchored in several theories of human communications. Available in face-to-face or online training, more than 2.5 million QPR gatekeepers have been trained to date. With further research, QPR may prove a useful recognition-and-referral public health educational intervention in the prevention of suicide and suicide attempts, and may emerge into a more broadly used intervention for non-suicidal persons sending detectable distress signals“.
QPR Gatekeeper Training for Suicide Prevention – The Model, Theory and Research © Paul Quinnett, Ph.D. – QPR Institute 2012
We have 2 certified QPR Instructors in Vietnam. QPR Gatekeeper Training Calendar will be updated soon.
Contact us for more details.
Current situation in Vietnam
- Suicidal thoughts in age groups (MOH, 2010) • 18 – 21: 4.4% • 14 – 17: 4.1% • 22 – 25: 3.8%
+ Suicidal thoughts and attempts appear the most in Dien Bien due to pressures around school drop-out and early marriage (Truong, 2017, UNICEF Vietnam) - Vietnamese youth attempted suicide: increased by 6.9% after a decade
- “The real suicide rate in Vietnam is still unknown, because the number of deaths reported by the Ministry of Health is based only on hospital data. However, most suicides occur outside the hospital system. There is no national system to monitor causes of death, including suicide, in Vietnam.” (Tran and Pham, 2009)
- Mental disorders: 9.4% of the investigated suicide patients in hospital age 10 – 19 have mental illness (Ngo and Do, 2023) Depression
“Students with depressive symptoms have a 6.64 times higher risk of suicidal ideation” (Tran et al., 2020)
31.7% of students aged between 13 – 17 had depressive symptoms (Tran et al., 2020)
- Gender:
71.9% of the investigated suicide patients in hospital who aged 10 – 19 were female (Ngo and Do, 2023)
“with women almost twice as likely in some studies to have suicidal ideation compared with males (Blum et al., 2012; Huong, 2009; Thanh et al., 2005; MOH, 2005; MOH et al., 2010).” (UNICEF Vietnam, 2017)
- Living environment:
Family (ref. Ngo & Do, 2023)
53.1% of adolescents who died by suicide were living with parents
59.4% of adolescents who died by suicide have parents with a challenged relationship with each other.
68.7% of adolescents who died by suicide have conflicts with their parents School:
46.9% of adolescents“Academic pressure, romantic relationships, bullying, school connectedness and school location were all risk factors for suicidal ideation. As a result of a highly competitive school environment, children felt pressure from teachers, parents and peers to excel academically"; (UNICEF Vietnam, 2017)who died by suicide have good to very good academic ability (Ngo and Do, 2023)
Location(urban/rural):
“In the SAVY II findings (MOH, 2010), for instance, more urban (5.4%) than rural youth (3.6%) had thoughts of suicide, and younger cohorts were more likely to report suicidal ideation"; (UNICEF Vietnam, 2017)
78.1% of adolescentswho died by suicide lived in urban areas
(Ngo and Do, 2023)
- Since the rate of suicide in Vietnam held low, there are ot many actions taken place to prevent suicide
- There are hotlines that people can call to share about their problems. For children, they can call 111 to ask for help. Hotlines like this can help people reduce stress & lower the probability of them developing depression - a key risk factor of suicide
- Vietnam has also informed its citizens via various websites to raise people's awareness of suicide (such as symptoms of someone intending to commit suicide, guidelines for those who try to help suicidal people, etc.)
In the private sector, there are more and more mental health improvement groups and organizations operating in Vietnam and by the Vietnamese. Some of them have started discussing suicide and suicide prevention, especially among adolescents and young adults. Below are some links to such organizations.
https://www.hopefulhorizons.org/
https://www.reach.edu.vn/about-us.html
Suicide Prevention Programs in the world
Suicide Prevention Programs vary significantly from one country to another. These programs aim to reduce the risk of suicide & provide support to individuals who may be struggling with suicidal thoughts or behaviors. Here is a general summary of common components & strategies used in suicide prevention programs worldwide.
Crisis Helplines
Many countries have crisis helplines like the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline in the United States, which provide immediate support to individuals in distress.
Education and Awareness
Suicide prevention programs often focus on raising awareness about mental health issues, reducing stigma, and promoting early intervention.
Training for Healthcare Professionals
Training programs for healthcare providers, including physicians, psychologists, and counselors, are crucial in identifying and helping individuals at risk.
Gatekeeper Training
These programs train non-professionals, such as teachers, coaches, and community members, to recognize signs of suicide risk and offer support.
Mental Health Services
Access to mental health services is essential, including counseling, therapy, and psychiatric care for those at risk.
Community-Based Initiatives:
Community organizations, schools, and local government agencies often collaborate to provide resources and support for individuals at risk.
Restricting Access to Lethal Means
Efforts are made to limit access to highly lethal methods of suicide, such as firearms, pesticides, and medications.
Media Guidelines:
Some countries have guidelines for responsible media reporting to avoid sensationalizing suicides, which can lead to "copycat" incidents.
Research and Data Collection
Ongoing research helps identify trends and high-risk populations, allowing for more targeted prevention efforts.
Support for At-Risk Populations
Some programs are tailored to specific at-risk populations, such as veterans, LGBTQ+ individuals, and youth.
Online and Text-Based Support
Digital platforms and text-based crisis intervention services are increasingly common, offering immediate assistance to those in need.
Postvention Programs
These programs provide support to individuals affected by suicide, aiming to reduce the risk of "contagion" and help survivors cope with their loss.
Policy & Legislation
Legislation can play a role in regulating access to firearms, means restriction, and the availability of mental health services.
Gate-keeper Training Programs
Gatekeeper training programs are designed to teach individuals who are not mental health professionals to recognize the warning signs of someone at risk of suicide and to take appropriate action. These programs are crucial in suicide prevention efforts. Some well-known gatekeeper training programs include:
These programs are typically available to a wide range of community members, including teachers, coaches, first responders, and other non-mental health professionals. The specific program chosen may depend on factors such as the target audience, available resources, and the training duration required. It’s important for gatekeepers to be aware of the resources available in their local area and how to connect individuals in crisis to appropriate help.
Read More
QPR is a popular gatekeeper training program that provides participants with the skills to identify warning signs, ask someone about their suicidal thoughts, persuade them to seek help, and refer them to appropriate resources.
Read More
ASIST (Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training): ASIST is a comprehensive, two-day workshop that teaches caregivers how to intervene with a person at risk of suicide. It focuses on suicide first aid and enhancing the caregiver's skills.
Read More
SafeTALK is a half-day training program that helps participants become more aware of the signs of suicide risk and how to engage with individuals who may be struggling. It aims to create a "suicide-alert community.
Read More
While not exclusively a gatekeeper training program, Mental Health First Aid teaches participants to recognize and respond to mental health crises, including suicidal thoughts. It covers a wide range of mental health issues.
Read More
LivingWorks Start is an online, interactive training program designed to help participants recognize when someone is thinking about suicide and connect them with appropriate resources.
Read More
ASIST-IC is a version of ASIST adapted for use in Indigenous communities, respecting cultural and community-specific contexts.
Read More
While not a traditional gatekeeper training program, Crisis Text Line offers resources on how to help a friend who may be in crisis. They focus on communication and support.
Previous
Next
“Suicide and self-inflicted injuries represent a significant public health problem. For community-based suicide prevention programs, theory-driven research on Gatekeeper training and its effectiveness remains limited. This paper describes the QPR Gatekeeper Training for Suicide Prevention program, its theoretical basis, the three-step CPR-like intervention and implications for the detection of new, untreated at-risk cases in defined communities. QPR stands for how to Question, Persuade and Refer someone emitting suicide warning signs. The QPR intervention is contextualized within the published literature on brief but beneficial public health and clinical interventions and anchored in several theories of human communications. Available in face-to-face or online training, more than 2.5 million QPR gatekeepers have been trained to date. With further research, QPR may prove a useful recognition-and-referral public health educational intervention in the prevention of suicide and suicide attempts, and may emerge into a more broadly used intervention for non-suicidal persons sending detectable distress signals“.
QPR Gatekeeper Training for Suicide Prevention – The Model, Theory and Research © Paul Quinnett, Ph.D. – QPR Institute 2012
