Supporting educational and youth organisations to deliver self-harm and suicide prevention and postvention: a mixed methods study
Researchers: Abby Russell, Judi Kidger, Lucy Biddle, Rowan Streckfuss Davis, Hannah Robinson, James Parsonage, Emily Widnall
Before you decide whether or not to participate, we would like you to understand why the research is being conducted and what it would involve for you. Talk to others about the study if you wish. Please ask us questions if anything is unclear.
Purpose of the research
This study is part of a wider project that aims to strengthen the support provided to education and other youth organisations regarding the management of self-harm and suicide risk in young people and response to a death by suicide.
Objectives of the interviews:
- To gain in-depth understanding of the experience and support needs of those giving and receiving support relating to self-harm and suicide in schools or other youth organisations
- To explore inequalities in the support given and received relating to self-harm and suicide
- To identify ways to strengthen the support that is available to those organisations when a death by suicide occurs, to prevent further suicidal behaviour (among young people or staff), and to reduce inequalities experienced in this regard
The findings will inform the next stage of this project (a Delphi Study) with the objective of co-producing ‘gold standard’ principles of practice for organisations regarding self-harm and suicide prevention and response to a death by suicide.
Why have I been invited to participate?
We are inviting you to participate because you work in an education setting or youth organisation, or you deliver support relating to self-harm and/or suicide to these establishments. For this study, we have chosen four ‘case study’ areas of England; Lincolnshire, Birmingham, the ‘Tees Valley’ and Bristol and surrounding areas. We aim to interview 10 professionals in each of these areas with a total of 40 participants.
Do I have to take part?
It is up to you to decide whether you wish to participate in an interview. You will have the chance to ask any questions you may have before you participate. If you agree to take part, we will then ask you to sign a consent form. You will have at least one week to think about participation and to return the signed consent form to us. You are free to withdraw at any time, without giving a reason. You may request that any of your data collected be destroyed up to three months after taking part.
You will take part in an interview with a researcher that will last 45-60 minutes, either in-person or online depending on what would work best for you. If in-person, this could be at your place of work as long as the available room is quiet and free from distractions. If in-person elsewhere, we would for your travel costs to get to and from the venue.
The interview will explore these topics:
- Your experiences of delivering or receiving support for self-harm/suicide prevention and/or postvention (when a suicide has happened)
- What helps or hinders organisations delivering and receiving prevention and/or postvention support
- Areas of improvement for prevention and/or postvention support, including unmet needs
- Your suggestions of the important components of guidance for organisations and professionals working with young people
Before we start the interview, we will remind you of the project’s aims and purpose as well as answering any questions you may have. We will also ask you for your verbal consent to continue with the interview (in addition to the written consent form you will have signed prior to the interview).
A digital voice recorder will be used to capture the interview. This audio recording will be securely transferred to and transcribed by UK Transcription Limited, meaning everything will be typed out exactly as it was said. This company has been approved to process data subject to the Data Protection Act, for which the University is the data controller. We will then anonymise these written transcripts, which means anything you said in the interview which could identify you, for example the names of a specific places or people, will be removed. Only anonymised direct quotes will be used in publications. Only the wider research team from the Universities of Bristol, Exeter, Newcastle and Birmingham will have access to the audio recordings and full anonymised transcripts. No one outside the project will be allowed access to them.
What are the possible disadvantages and risks involved in taking part in the project?
Self-harm and suicide are sensitive topics and during the interview you may reflect on your own experiences of supporting young people which may be upsetting. It will be up to you what or how much information you share with us and you will be able to take a break from the interview if needed. The researcher conducting the interview will have resources and organisations to share with you to after the interview.
What are the possible benefits of taking part?
There are no direct benefits of taking part. However, the findings from this study will ultimately improve the support provided to organisations who work with young people, and to young people themselves experiencing self-harm or suicidal thoughts, or following a death by suicide in their education or youth organisation setting. You will receive a £20 thank you voucher for your involvement.
Will my participation in this project be kept confidential?
Your personal information required for contact will be stored in a separate password protected excel spreadsheet and will be linked to the study data using a unique participant identification number (not names). All researchers involved in the study are aware of, and understand, codes of practice and confidentiality and understand the concept of confidentiality and the Data Protection Act. They are aware that participants’ names and contact details are key identifiable information. Once the study is complete, personal information will be destroyed. If you consent to being contacted regarding involvement in future research, or to receiving a summary of study results, we will keep the email address provided on file until future contact has been made. The University of Bristol will keep the audio recordings, transcripts and research notes for at least three years after termination of the study. Confidentiality of individuals participating in interviews will be maintained in written or verbal dissemination of the findings. Audio recordings of consent, audio recordings of the interview, anonymised transcripts and anonymised research notes will be stored on a secure University of Bristol network (Filestore\BRMS) in a folder with access limited to the study researchers.
What will happen to the results of the research project?
The audio recordings will be deleted once the study has ended (January 2026). The anonymised transcripts will be stored in the University of Bristol Research Data Repository if you consent to this (optional), other researchers may apply to access this data to support future research. These requests will be managed by the Research Data Service.
The results of the research project will be published as an academic paper in a peer-reviewed journal. We intend to share the findings further in a variety of forms, including but not limited to press releases, blogs hosted by organisations such as the Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health (www.acamh.org), Podcasts, tweets and infographics. All publications will be open-access, and we will highlight to the public how they can access each paper by including the hyperlink to the publications in our dissemination and impact work. You will not be identified as a named individual in any report/publication of this study and direct quotes used in publications will be anonymised. You will be asked at the end of your involvement in the project whether you would like to be contacted with a summary of the results (when available) and/or with a link to the academic paper (when published).
Who is organising and funding the research?
This study is being carried out by the University of Bristol and University of Exeter along with collaborators from the Universities of Birmingham and Newcastle. It has been funded by the National Institute of Health and Care Research (NIHR) School for Public Health Research.
Who has reviewed the study?
This project has undergone full ethical review by the Faculty of Health Sciences Research Ethics Committee at the University of Bristol.
Further information and contact details
If you would like further information relating to the study, or have any questions about what you are being asked to do, please contact Judi Kidger: Judi.Kidger@Bristol.ac.uk
If you have any concerns relating to your participation in this study, please contact the Faculty of Health Science Research Ethics Committee, via the Research Governance Team: research-governance@bristol.ac.uk