Professor Alison Yung MD, MBBS, MPM, FRANZCP, Grad Dip Epidem, is a Consultant Psychiatrist and Principal Research Fellow at the University of Melbourne, Department of Psychiatry and Orygen Research Centre, and a National Health and Medical Research Centre (NHMRC) Senior Research Fellow. She has been involved in young people’s mental health through her clinical and research work for over a decade.
In 1994 Professor Yung established and developed the Personal Assessment and Crisis Evaluation (PACE) Clinic, a clinical and research centre which manages young people at incipient risk of developing first onset psychosis. This was the first clinic of this type in the world and research conducted within PACE is now being replicated internationally. Professor Yung has received several grants and has numerous publications related to PACE research. She is also Chief Investigator on projects investigating risk factors for mental disorders in the community and general health settings. The US based National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression (NARSAD) recently chose her for an Independent Investigator Award for continuing and expanding her research into youth mental illness.
SUMMARY OF PROJECT:
Reducing suicide risk in young people: a school-based intervention
Deliberate self-harm among young people is prevalent, yet despite this, many young people who engage in deliberate self-harm receive sub-optimal care. Although schools are well placed to support young people who engage in self-harm, no specific training packages (prior to this study) designed to assist school staff to support these young people were available. Professor Alison Yung and her team from the Orygen Research Centre proposed to design, deliver and evaluate an evidence-based school intervention training course specifically for school staff.
PROGRESS REPORT:
The study began in January 2006. “Managing Deliberate Self-Harm in Schools” – a 1 or 2 day training program covering a range of topics such as dealing with self-harm, therapeutic techniques, recognition and assessment of risk - utilised a range of techniques including presentations, individual and group work and role play. A CD Rom training resource, which included a summary of aspects of the training package, was designed to be used by the participants in professional development sessions in their workplaces.
In the first year 213 participants attended, including school welfare coordinators, psychologists, teachers and nursing staff. Questionnaires evaluating existing knowledge were administered prior to and immediately after the training. 169 participants returned both questionnaires. Analysed data shows the training lead to improvements in knowledge, confidence and perceived skill in managing self-harm in a school setting. An interim paper reporting results is under review with the journal CRISIS.
Additional funding from the Rotary Club of Camberwell and Australian Rotary Health allowed training to be updated and delivered four times in 2007. Further evaluation is underway.
The study has been presented to the Rotary Clubs of Camberwell and Mount Waverly in Victoria. It was also presented at the ‘Suicide Prevention Australia’ conference, the Australian Society for Psychiatric Research conference and the International Association of Suicide Prevention Conference in 2007.
FINAL REPORT:
The evaluation demonstrated that prior to the course, the majority of participants demonstrated relatively high levels of confidence, skill and knowledge of self-harm and endorsed relatively positive attitudes towards people who engage in self-harm.
Despite this, significant improvements were observed in terms of increased confidence, increased perceptions of skill along with increased knowledge of deliberate self-harm. These improvements were sustained over a 6-month follow-up period.
This world first project involved the development of an evidence-based training package for school staff which is now routinely delivered as part of the Orygen Youth Health training calendar. A training manual has been developed to standardise the training provided.
Though this project did not extend to measure the long term effect of the research, future branches off this project may benefit students by allowing staff to be better equipped to recognise and manage suicidal behaviour among their students and to facilitate appropriate pathways to care.