[Applied suicide intervention skills training workshop]. / Kurset Førstehjelp ved selvmordsfare.

This article discusses the benefits and limitations of applied suicide intervention skills training (ASIST), a two-day intensive, interactive and practice-dominated workshop designed to help caregivers recognise and estimate risk and learn how to intervene in case of immediate risk of suicide. It could appropriately be compared to training in cardiopulmonary resuscitation. The workshop sensitises participants to attitudes and presents a model for suicide intervention; it is flexible and employs learning aids and audiovisual material in order to encourage a high level of involvement. A growing body of evidence from assessments suggests that the workshop enhances caregivers' sense of readiness for suicide intervention and their actual level of skills for that role. ASIST is a standardized learning experience that uses an effective implementation strategy through which local professionals are trained as instructors. It was developed by LivingWorks Education in Canada in the 1980s. In Norway, Vivat, a training programme originating in the National Suicide Prevention Plan, is in charge of implementation of the workshop and training of instructors.

[Applied suicide intervention--an evaluation]. / Førstehjelp ved selvmordsfare--en evaluering.

BACKGROUND: The department of psychiatry of the University Hospital of North Norway in Tromsø sought to improve suicide prevention skills among medical students through a workshop on applied suicide intervention skills training (ASIST). MATERIAL AND METHODS: Over the course of the academic year 1998/99, 76 medical students attended workshops. Results were assessed through focus group interviews. RESULTS: By the end of the workshop, students reported more professional confidence and better skills in suicide intervention. They found it very useful to get this opportunity to role-play situations and receive feedback on their own behaviour. Working with suicidal patients is a great and challenging responsibility and students were well aware of the importance of paying attention to the boundaries between one's professional and one's private life. They reported that they saw the benefits of working with caregivers from other professions. CONCLUSION: The workshop appears to enhance suicide intervention skills and will continue to be a part of the clerkship in psychiatry at the University of Tromsø.