Responding to suicide in secondary schools: A Delphi study.

Suicide is a significant problem amongst young people and when a school student takes their own life it has serious implications for the school community. To minimise the potential for suicide contagion, and to enable the school community to begin a process of healing, the affected school must respond in a timely and appropriate manner. There has been limited research to date however regarding the safest and most effective way for a school to respond to the suicide of a student. In presenting the findings from this new research (Delphi study), we emphasise the need to consider the following in a best practice response in school communities: ¥ each suicide and school context is unique; ¥ responses to suicide need to be tailored to the context, needs, policies and resources of the particular school community; and ¥ schools need to work within the policy and practice frameworks and protocols of their education sector/system.

Contact us for a copy of this article, or view online at https://headspace.org.au/assets/School-Support/hSS-Delphi-Study-web.pdf