Handlingskompetanse etter kurset "Førstehjelp ved selvmordsfare" - en kvantitativ studie fra ti norske kommuner

Abstract

The workshop Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST) is delivered by the organisation Vivat Suicide Prevention (Vivat). Vivat is one of the suicide preventive actions from the Norwegian Directorate of Health. In a quantitative survey, we looked at participants’ self-reported competence after completing ASIST. The study includes an intervention group (N = 146) consisting of respondents who have attended the training, and a control group (N = 137) consisting of respondents who have not attend the training. More than 90 % of the respondents in both groups reported that they had been concerned that a person was thinking about taking their own life. The results also show significantly differences related to respondents’ self-reported action competence. The respondents in the intervention group states that they have been concerned about people having suicidal thoughts significantly more often than the respondents in the control group. Significantly more of the respondents in the intervention group states that they have asked about thoughts of suicide, listened to the stories about suicide and developed a safe-plan. 92 % of the intervention group states that they fully or to some extent, have the expertise they need to be able to provide suicide first aid. In comparison 42 % of the control group states the same. The findings in our study support that the training increases the helper’s ability to provide suicide first aid and that this increased ability can be demonstrated more than a year after the training has been completed.