See Beyond the Label

Young Minds launched this exciting training manual for those working with young people who self-harm on June 12^th 2006 in London. The aim was to ensure that young people who self-harm are involved, supported, and that both facts and attitudes are addressed. The process involves 5 key days:

1. A training day bringing staff and young people who self harm together

2. Exploring young people’s attitudes

3. Exploring staff attitudes

4. Agreeing the components of a local self-harm protocol

5. Signing up to the protocol – identifying tools that will make it a living document

The Camelot Foundation report on responding to young people who self-harm will be published in July ‘06 with a ‘Virtual Self-harm Network’ with a £½million investment.

On the frontline ...

PAPYRUS looks forward to the development of this work and how it will impact on the emotional well being of young people and meet the needs of those at risk of suicide.

Sheffield Suicide Prevention Conference

This event was aimed at shared learning, information and developing good practice to progress suicide prevention in Sheffield, hosted by the South East Sheffield Primary Care Trust. All those in health, social care, community or educational settings including users and carers were invited, resulting in about 130 delegates.

Key note speakers included the Coroner who outlined inquest changes resulting in narrative verdicts, which describe the circumstances of a person’s death rather than a word such as ‘Open’, for all deaths resulting from self-harm. Those involved usually appreciated the ‘findings’ rather than a categorisation, but this in future could result in less clarity with regard to suicide statistics. If the ‘courtroom’ process was changed media intrusion may be reduced. Families need a full opportunity to be heard.

Alison Moore, Fellow of the Charlie Waller Memorial Trust, spoke about risk assessment. She highlighted the need to work on maintaining hope and resilience, developing strengths and reasons for staying alive. She advocated asking direct questions about suicidal intent in order to assess risk.

In my workshop I covered the role of families, peers and carers in suicide prevention. Delegates were very receptive to our literature and to hearing about HOPELineUK.

The Sheffield Team have made a realistic drive to involve a wide range of people in suicide prevention; hopefully the results will enable more effective interventions for those at risk.

Helping young people cope with suicidal feelings, thoughts and behaviours

The Association for Professionals in Service for Adolescence (APSA) hosted this event in Leicester on 28^th February ‘06 with Pavilion Conferences, and speaking on PAPYRUS’s role I once again used the occasion to promote HopeLineUK. A copy of the presentation is available in Rapport Magazine.

The www.studentdepression.org web site - sponsored by the Charlie Waller Memorial Trust - was outlined by the developer Denise Meyer. This excellent site is easy to navigate, student friendly and has been well validated. The success stories from students and the practical tasks are a useful aid for young people, supported by good illustrations. *see below

David Wilkins from The Men’s Health Forum outlined a strategic approach to preventing suicide in young men. The presentation focused on acknowledging the emotional needs of this group, concentrating resources where risk was heightened, and using community wide support systems.

This was an excellent event, which was well attended. PAPYRUS is pleased to be working with APSA. Full information available on www.apsa-web.info

Copies of Anna’s full reports can be obtained from our office.