The Development of Training to Guide Health Professionals How to Respond to Parents Bereaved by Suicide
I have been so busy informing you of what I have learnt in Australia and New Zealand during my Winston Churchill Travel Fellowship, that I have failed to tell you about the research that my team and I are currently conducting at the University of Manchester.
We are currently developing a training pack to guide health professionals on how to respond to parents bereaved by suicide. This has been the most difficult study that I have ever conducted but equally, the most rewarding. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the brave parents and health professionals who were prepared to participate in this study and talk about their vulnerabilities and needs in order to help others in the future.
The following provides more information about the study:
Title: The Development of a Training Pack to Guide Health Professionals How to Respond to Parents Bereaved by Suicide
Research team: Dr. Sharon McDonnell, Professor Nav Kapur, Professor Chew-Graham, Professor Jenny Shaw, Mr. John Peters and Dr. Lis Cordingley
Duration: July 2011 – October 2014
Conducted by: The University of Manchester and Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust
Funded by: National Institute for Health Research (Research for Patient Benefit)
Background
It is estimated between 7-10 significant others are affected by each suicide and are themselves between 80-300% more likely to die by suicide than the general population. Our understanding of how to assist those bereaved by suicide is far behind our understanding of other ‘at risk’ populations. Studies have focused on the difficulties health professionals’ experience when meeting bereaved families. Less attention has been paid to their responses and intervention approaches and the way these are perceived by those bereaved.
Aim
To develop a training pack for health professionals to support them in dealing with parents bereaved by suicide
Objectives
Qualitative methods will be used. Participants include parents bereaved by suicide and health professionals responsible for their care. Parents of offspring, aged between 16-35 years who have had either a suicide, open or narrative verdict returned, will be identified via inquest files, self-recruitment posters, newspaper articles and organisations that support those bereaved by suicide. The deceased will have died in either Greater Manchester, Lancashire, Newcastle or Staffordshire during 2002-2012. Parents will live and health professionals (i.e. GPs, mental health professionals and ambulance staff) will serve those in either Greater Manchester area, Lancashire, Staffordshire, Newcastle and Durham. The bereaved parents and health professionals that supported them will be interviewed to explore parents’ perception of health professionals’ responses to them and health professionals’ perception of caring for them.
Development of the Training Pack
The training resource will be evidence based and theory driven. Findings from the interviews with bereaved parents and health professionals will also inform and guide the development of the resource.
Research Interests
For more information on my research interests click on the following link:
http://www.manchester.ac.uk/research/sharon.j.mcdonnell/personaldetails
