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The research has been running for almost twenty months and has gained a lot of momentum since our last update. As we mentioned then, all the universities and colleges of higher education in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales have now been contacted and although we are still in negotiation with a small number of universities this phase of the research is coming to an end. We are currently experiencing a busy period of interviewing as a result of the contacts we have made and have a made a number of significant changes to research design to expand the ways in which we invite people to take part in the research. The purpose of this update is to introduce you to some of these new approaches.
As those of you who attended the AGM in October will be aware, throughout the research process we have been particularly interested in the different perspectives brought to this research by interviewing the friends of the young people who have died. Other studies have highlighted that a high proportion of young people speak to their friends when they are feeling depressed or are experiencing other problems. Early interviews with friends as part of our study suggested that a similar process was happening at university and that this may be particularly relevant given the absence of parents in the university setting. In order to fully explore these and other issues we considered that it was important that we speak to as many students as possible. However the transitory nature of university and high mobility of this group has meant that contacting students has been difficult.
As some of you who have been involved in research process will know, all research is now subject to NHS Research Ethics Committee approval before it can take place. As a result of some of the restrictions on |
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our ethical approval we were initially limited in the ways in which we could ask students to come forward to speak to the researchers.
Following the difficulties experienced contacting students, we initiated discussions with key figures at the National Union of Students (NUS). Consideration of a number of approaches led us to conclude that student newspapers would offer a useful means of reaching a large audience of students. These newspapers are written by students and distributed for free throughout Student Unions. We applied to the ethics committee for the necessary approval to use this approach. This application was successful and we are currently working with the NUS on a press release inviting students to contact us directly to speak to us about their experiences of losing a friend to suicide. We expect this to be distributed throughout student unions in the coming weeks.
In the course of the research, we have also become aware of a number of families who university support services have not been able to write to on our behalf. This has been for a variety of reasons: for example, because they have had no contact with the family or because the death happened away from the university. We are keen to ensure that these families are not excluded from the research, and have been working with Coroners in England and Wales and with the Crown Office in Scotland. As a result of these negotiations and revised approval from the ethics committee, we have been able to send out letters via Coroners, to additional parents whom we have identified as losing their child during the time frame for the study.
As well as exploring new ways of making contact with those who have been bereaved by suicide, we have |
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A friend in need ... |
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By Dorothy Eddi Piper, Trust for the Study of Adolescence 2005
This new training pack contains a DVD and CD for use by professionals in a wide range of courses. The DVD contains short film clips of sensitively conducted interviews with young people. The young people talk honestly and openly about their experiences. Topics include: anger |
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and lashing out; self-harm; isolation; relationships with teachers, counsellors and parents. The CD contains training exercises, student handouts and a transcript of the film to print out and photocopy. Available from TSA Publications Dept, 23 New Road, Brighton, BN1 6GB. Tel: 01273 693311 email: publications@tsa.uk.com or On Line: www.tsa.uk.com. |
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Jo Bell and Sharon Mallon, RaPSS researchers |
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also continued to work with counselling staff within university support services and were invited to contribute the lead article in a special issue of the Journal of the Association of University Counselling Centres entitled Preventing Student Suicide.
We have also started to analyse the transcripts from each of the interviews we have completed. As each interview produces around fifty pages of type written data this is a considerable task and one which will be continued throughout the coming months.
As always we are still welcoming members of PAPYRUS to come forward to participate in interviews about their experience. Such interviews do not need to focus on recent deaths, therefore if your child died while they were a university student then please do get in touch. We are also interested to hear parents’ own suggestions about how the findings from this study might be used and disseminated.
There will be another update on the progress of the research in the next issue of the newsletter when the fieldwork will be reaching its final stages.
In the meantime you can keep in touch by logging on to our recently updated website www.rapss.org.uk. or contacting us via email or phone Sharon@rapss.org.uk (01772 893407) (01482 463354).
Sharon Mallon, RaPSS Researcher, 31.01.06. |
