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3: Supporting Suicide Prevention in Scotland

Summary of the impact

Epidemiological and evaluation research conducted at the UoE has enhanced understanding of risk and protective factors for suicide and self-harm, the relative importance of compositional and contextual effects in explaining suicide inequalities, the unequal distribution of suicide risk in the population and the effectiveness of the national suicide prevention strategies in Scotland and elsewhere. Research findings have been effectively disseminated and have informed the development, implementation and sustaining of evidence-informed suicide prevention programmes and activities in Scotland, resulting in a fall of 18% (from 17.5 to 14.8 per 100,000 population 15+ years) in the suicide rate in Scotland during 2000-2012.

Submitting Institution

University of Edinburgh

Unit of Assessment

Social Work and Social Policy

Summary Impact Type

Societal

Research Subject Area(s)

Medical and Health Sciences: Public Health and Health Services

Changing Policy And Practice In The Prevention Of Suicide And Self-Harm

Summary of the impact

Our research has made an outstanding contribution to the policy and practice of Health bodies acting to prevent suicide and self-harm. Research conducted within the Suicidal Behaviour Research Laboratory (SBRL) has systematically examined the causal antecedents of self-harm and risk of suicide, leading to the creation of a new theoretical model of suicide that: (1) has substantially informed new public policy, including the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence's (NICE) and Royal College of Psychiatrists' (RCP) Clinical Guidelines on the management of self-harm and suicide risk, and; (2) has demonstrably altered practice, both Nationally and Internationally, via the development of assessment tools specifically designed to identify those who are at greatest risk of psychological distress, self-harm and suicide.

Submitting Institution

University of Stirling

Unit of Assessment

Psychology, Psychiatry and Neuroscience

Summary Impact Type

Health

Research Subject Area(s)

Medical and Health Sciences: Clinical Sciences, Public Health and Health Services
Psychology and Cognitive Sciences: Psychology

Fewer suicides worldwide following changes in policy and practice influenced by University of Bristol research

Summary of the impact

University of Bristol research has played an important role in shaping local, national and global suicide prevention initiatives. The consequent reductions in suicide rates have been substantial and many hundreds of lives have been saved thanks to this research.

The scope and scale of the impact has ranged from shaping World Health Organisation (WHO) strategy on preventing suicides by pesticide poisoning, informing national legislation on limiting access to the means of suicide in several countries (e.g. analgesics in the UK — 1000 fewer suicides between 2008 and 2013), informing guidelines on the responsible reporting of suicide for the UK media, and developing highly successful prevention measures at the Clifton Suspension Bridge, a suicide site in Bristol (30 fewer suicides between 2008 and 2013).

Submitting Institution

University of Bristol

Unit of Assessment

Public Health, Health Services and Primary Care

Summary Impact Type

Societal

Research Subject Area(s)

Medical and Health Sciences: Public Health and Health Services

Suicide Prevention Policy and Practice in Northern Ireland

Summary of the impact

Research on the scale and nature of suicide in Northern Ireland has changed awareness of suicide as a problem and has informed the development of suicide prevention strategies. The findings have received widespread coverage in local, national and international media with impact on a range of audiences. These include policy makers, suicide prevention practitioners, mental health professionals and the wider public. Elected representatives have used the research in debates in the House of Commons and Northern Ireland Assembly. Psychiatrists, counsellors, suicide prevention workers, volunteers for the Samaritans and the Commission on Victims and Survivors have actively engaged with the research.

Submitting Institution

Queen's University Belfast

Unit of Assessment

Sociology

Summary Impact Type

Health

Research Subject Area(s)

Medical and Health Sciences: Public Health and Health Services

Preventing suicides in non-clinical populations and settings

Summary of the impact

Our work on suicide prevention, led by Christabel Owens of the University of Exeter in conjunction with Devon Partnership NHS Trust, has led to environmental changes to improve safety at public locations worldwide. The work has been recognised by ministries of health and cited in national suicide prevention strategies and guidance documents worldwide, and is associated with demonstrable benefits at specific high-risk sites. Ground-breaking research into the role of family members and friends in suicide prevention has led to a strategic partnership with all the major suicide prevention charities that are leading the way in public education in England.

Submitting Institution

University of Exeter

Unit of Assessment

Public Health, Health Services and Primary Care

Summary Impact Type

Societal

Research Subject Area(s)

Medical and Health Sciences: Public Health and Health Services

National Confidential Inquiry into Suicide and Homicide by People with Mental Illness

Summary of the impact

Suicide is one of the most serious adverse outcomes in mental health services. NCISH research is based on a comprehensive and internationally unique database (99,000 suicide deaths; 25,000 patient suicide deaths). NCISH impacts upon practice and policy by providing definitive figures on suicide to clinical services and government, producing data-driven safety recommendations and demonstrating that these recommendations reduce suicide. Based on NCISH research, overall patient suicide rates fell by 26% (2004-11), in-patient deaths fell by 58% (2001-2010), and individual recommendations may have prevented between 200-300 patient suicide deaths per year. A new vehicle for impact delivery is the social enterprise Safer Care Ltd (founded 2013), which has already reviewed 4 Trusts and, by reinvesting future income in the social enterprise, we will continue to meet the specific needs of mental health services.

Submitting Institution

University of Manchester

Unit of Assessment

Psychology, Psychiatry and Neuroscience

Summary Impact Type

Health

Research Subject Area(s)

Medical and Health Sciences: Clinical Sciences, Public Health and Health Services

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