Background:
Deliberate self-harm is prevalent among school students; however, evidence-based training on responding to this is limited.
Aims:
The aims of the study were to develop and evaluate a training package for school staff to assist them manage self-harm among young people.
Methods:
The training was a 2-day evidence-based package specifically designed for school staff. It aimed to better enable participants to understand and recognize self-harm and mental illness; improve the levels of confidence and perceived skill of participants in their ability to identify and manage self-harm, mental illness and risk and to improve attitudes of participants toward young people engaging in self-harm. The evaluation adopted a pretest/posttest design. Baseline measures were administered immediately prior to the training and were repeated immediately after the training. They will also be repeated at 6-month follow-up.
Results/Conclusions:
The training was delivered to 213 school welfare staff across Victoria between May and August. Part 1 of the evaluation is now complete and analyses are under way. The findings will be presented and the overall efficacy of the training will be discussed.
