Two-Year Follow-Up of a Community Gatekeeper Suicide Prevention Program in an Aboriginal Community

This study examined the long-term effects of the Shoalhaven Aboriginal Suicide Prevention Program which used community gatekeepers training as its primary strategy. Following consultation with the Aboriginal community, a brief questionnaire & semi-structued interview was completed by 40 participants who attended a workshop 2 years eariler. 15 of the 40 had helped someone at risk of suicide during the follow-up period. Intentions to help & confidence to identify someone at risk of suicide remained high. A significant relationship was found between intentions to help prior to the workshop & whether participants had actually helped someone at risk. It is unclear if workshop attendance at the workshop contributed to this effect. Future prevention programs need to be customized to specific communities to reduce barriers to help seeking behaviour. (6 refs.)