Workplace Suicide Prevention: Supporting workers through Situational First Aid
MRFF Million Minds Grant: Work and unemployment: vital to effective suicide prevention (Freeman, et al. 2022)
Situational first aid (SFA) is the provision of assistance to people who are distressed by life circumstances, or at risk of becoming distressed. It includes compassionate listening, referrals to community services and supports, government agencies, social prescribing, and the use of appropriate language that does not pathologise, shame, or blame distressed people.
SFA considers the social determinants of distress and expands referral options beyond health pathways. It is designed to support people to apply a non-medicalised, socially informed approach to support people who are distressed.
Employment Services Providers (ESPs) are an important part of a socially informed approach to these challenges.
This course is designed to provide workplace professionals with the knowledge and skills to recognize, assess, and address clients’ distress more effectively.
This course will cover:
- The relationship between labour underutilisation and suicide risk in workplace settings.
- The latest research findings from The University of Adelaide on employment and mental health.
- Best practices for workplace service providers in addressing employment-related distress.
- Effective communication techniques for engaging with at-risk employees.
- Strategies for implementing workplace mental health initiatives and crisis interventions.
- The role of workplace advocacy in reducing employment-related mental health risks.
Learning Outcomes:
By the end of this course, participants will be able to:
- understand and implement improved reflective practice as part of their role as an employment service provider
- understand the social determinants of health and how they impact on people’s lives
- be more comfortable communicating with people in distress by making meaning of their feelings and circumstances
- feel better able to tolerate uncertainty when working with people
- be more aware of the way they use language and the impact it has on people
- be more confident in their ability to make a difference in people’s lives
- be more confident in knowing when to refer, who to refer to, and how to make effective referrals