Hashimoto N, Suzuki Y, Kato TA, Fujisawa D, Sato R, Aoyama-Uehara K, Fukasawa M, Asakura S, Kusumi I, Otsuka K. Psychiatry Clin. Neurosci. 2015; 70(1): 62-70.
Affiliation
Department of Neuropsychiatry, Disaster and Community Psychiatry, Iwate Medical University, Iwate, Japan.
AIM: Suicide has been a leading cause of death among Japanese college and university students. Gatekeeper-training programs have been shown to improve detection and referral of individuals who are at risk of suicide by training non-mental health professional persons, but no study have investigated effectiveness of such programs in university settings in Japan. The aim of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of gatekeeper-training program for administrative staff in Japanese universities.
METHODS: We developed a 2.5 hours gatekeeper-training program based on the Mental Health First Aid program, which was originally developed for the general public. Seventy-six administrative staff in Hokkaido University participated in the program. Competence and confidence in managing suicide intervention, behavioral intention as a gatekeeper and attitude while handling suicidal students were measured by a self-reported questionnaire before, immediately after and a month after the program.
RESULTS: We found a significant improvement in competence in the management of suicidal students. We also found improvements in confidence in management of suicidal students and behavioral intention as a gatekeeper after training, though questionnaires for those secondary outcomes were not validated. These improvements continued for a month. About 95% of the participants rated the program as useful or very useful and one-third of the participants had one or more chances to utilize their skill within a month.
CONCLUSION: The current results suggest positive effects of the training program in university settings in Japan. Future evaluation that includes comparison with standard didactic trainings and an assessment of long-term effectiveness are warranted.