Community co-design of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander led suicide alertness training: safeYARN

Ethics approval number: A201367

The aim of this study is to adapt the LivingWorks safeTALK suicide alertness program to be culturally safe and relevant to the needs of Australian First Nation peoples by (a) reviewing the current suicide prevention program to assess its cultural relevance and (b) using co-design methodology with Indigenous community members and the Thompson Institute First Nations Advisory Group to develop an adapted model that reflects community need.

Participant eligibility

  • 18 years old or over
  • Identify as a Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander person

Contact the Alliance if you are unsure if you are eligible to participate.

What the project involves

There are three parts to this study:

  1. Take part in a one-day safeTALK suicide alertness training program delivered by First Nations trainers who are registered with LivingWorks. safeTALK helps people to recognise when someone is thinking about suicide and how to respond helpfully.
  2. Following a catered lunch and a break, you will be invited to meet with Tegan Schefe and the other First Nations trainers to yarn about the cultural appropriateness, relevance, and safety of safeTALK.
  3. One month later, take part in a two-hour co-design workshop where your feedback will be used to redesign safeTALK into a culturally appropriate and relevant First Nations-specific suicide prevention training package: safeYARN.

Project results

We will present the findings from this study back to the First Nations community, which you will be invited to attend. Results of this study will be written as journal articles and will help make suicide prevention activities on the Sunshine Coast culturally appropriate and suited to the needs of the First Nations community. The published findings will not reveal the identity of any participant. Non-identifiable findings from the survey may also be presented at conferences or meetings.

Privacy and confidentiality

Your participation in the workshop or yarning circle means that group members may know your name. However, we will not identify you by name in dissemination of results, publications, or conference proceedings. All data collected in this research will be stored securely as per USC’s Research Data Management policy.

Informed consent

For more information refer to the Research Project Information Sheet*

* For PDF documents you must have the free Adobe Acrobat Reader, which can be downloaded from the Adobe Download Page.