Effects of brief training on mental health provider’s knowledge of working with youth at risk of suicide in Guatemala

Abstract

Background: Resources for mental healthcare are lacking in Guatemala, yet rates of mental illness and suicide are quite high. Mental healthcare providers often lack the knowledge needed to effectively work with young at-risk of suicide. To address this gap, we developed a training program for mental health professionals focused on increasing knowledge and understanding of engaging and working with youth at risk of suicide and present its acceptability and preliminary effectiveness. Methods: Mental health providers ( N = 17) from a low SES community participated in the training, Formacion CUIDAR (Comunidades Unidos para Individuales De Alto Riesgo; CARE Training; Communities United for Individuals at High Risk). Mixed methods were used to explore outcomes including, self-reported knowledge and understanding of warning signs; risk and protective factors; effective risk assessment; and, techniques for working with at-risk youth. Results: Findings indicate that the training was effective at increasing all targeted domains of knowledge ( t = 2.46, p < .05, Cohen’s d = .56). Acceptability was also rated as high. Conclusion: Scarcity of mental health specialists and lack of training on suicide assessment and management have resulted in inadequate resources for at-risk youth in need of mental health services in Guatemala. Results of our study demonstrate that our training is an acceptable, effective program for practicing mental health providers to address their lack of specialized training on how to work with individuals at risk of suicide. Further examination of the training in a larger RCT is required to attain more robust indictors of effectiveness and to assess long-term impact.

[Retracted] The Mining Method of Ideological and Political Elements in University Public Mental Health Courses Based on Artificial Intelligence Technology

“…In addition, the ideological and political education of psychology in colleges and universities has formed a relatively complete teaching system after a long period of development. A large amount of data have also been accumulated in various stages such as school classroom teaching and students' after-school practice [33][34][35]. At the same time, every college and every student is generating massive amounts of data every day.…”

Interventions for Adolescent Suicide Ideation and Suicide Attempts in Latin America and Spain: A Systematic Review

“…Regarding the studies that measured knowledge in suicide ideation and attempts for gatekeepers, results show an increase of knowledge at posttest in all the studies (Alonzo et al, 2020, 2021; Arenas-Monreal et al, 2021; Piedrahita et al, 2012; Pérez-Reyna et al, 2008). Within-group effect sizes were calculated for two studies that reported the raw data to conduct the computation (Alonzo et al, 2020, 2021). Large effect sizes were detected in the study training parents and teachers ( d = 1.25, 95% CI [0.58–1.86]; Alonzo et al, 2021) and medium effect sizes for the study training mental health providers ( d = 0.45, [−0.22, 1.13]; Alonzo et al, 2021).…”

“…Knowledge. Four studies include as a primary outcome the increase in knowledge about suicide ideation and attempts implemented for adolescents (Arias-Gutiérrez et al, 2009;Cañón et al, 2018;Chávez-Hernández et al, 2008;Figueredo, 2020) and five studies measure the increase in knowledge for gatekeepers (Alonzo et al, 2020(Alonzo et al, , 2021Arenas-Monreal et al, 2021;Piedrahita et al, 2012;Pérez-Reyna et al, 2008).…”

“…Regarding the studies that measured knowledge in suicide ideation and attempts for gatekeepers, results show an increase of knowledge at posttest in all the studies (Alonzo et al, 2020(Alonzo et al, , 2021Arenas-Monreal et al, 2021;Piedrahita et al, 2012;Pérez-Reyna et al, 2008). Within-group effect sizes were calculated for two studies that reported the raw data to conduct the computation (Alonzo et al, 2020(Alonzo et al, , 2021.…”

“…This review found five interventions directed toward gatekeepers to reduce suicide ideation and attempts implemented in Latin America. The common factor of this intervention was training adults to recognize warning signs and risk factors of adolescent suicide ideation and attempts (Alonzo et al, 2020(Alonzo et al, , 2021Arenas-Monreal et al, 2021;Piedrahita et al, 2012;Pérez-Reyna et al, 2008). The importance of this training in low-and middle-income countries is fundamental, given that typically adolescents in this context have limited access to mental health services (Alonzo et al, 2021;Persaud et al, 2019).…”