Gloucestershire Suicide Prevention Partnership (GSPP) are trying to gauge the level of interest in Postvention: Assisting those Bereaved by Suicide (PABBS) training courses, with the aim of arranging training for later this year/early 2020. This course would be available free of charge to those who work for either the public and voluntary sector and who will use the training to support those affected by suicide. This course is not just limited to clinical staff, it might be also helpful to the police, coroner’s staff, funeral staff, hospital staff, clergy, counsellors and many more. If you come into contact (or are likely to) with people who have been bereaved by suicide, have a look at the information below.
What is Postvention: Assisting those Bereaved by Suicide (PABBS) training?
The course is a one-day workshop, developed by Suicide Bereavement UK (SBUK), and is highly interactive, with the aim of providing those who support people affected by suicide with the necessary skills for responding to and caring for them.
The PABBS training course is the first of its kind internationally and is based on evidence gathered from a three year study conducted at the University of Manchester. This study was funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), which highlighted the vulnerability and perceived needs of parents bereaved by suicide and the health professionals responsible for their care. The leader of the research, Dr Sharon McDonnell (Director of SBUK) specialises in suicide bereavement research and developing evidence-based suicide bereavement training.
The course will be delivered by trainers who have considerable expertise in supporting those bereaved by suicide. It will include a workbook, nine video clips and a 60-page manual for future reference, as well as providing a service-response plan for initial and long-term support for bereaved parents.
What will I gain from attending the course?
Not only will you be gaining both confidence and vital knowledge required for helping others, you will also be considering your own emotional needs as a health professional following a patient’s death. The course acknowledges the affect of a patient’s suicide on all those responsible for their care and therefore gives a support strategy that will help you if you experience the suicide of a patient.
The PABBS training course has been praised by previous attendees, such as that there was “plenty of opportunity to ask questions of the very knowledgeable presenters of the training…” and that it was “…a very beneficial day for me with information that I will incorporate into my work.”
This is an incredibly valuable opportunity to better your understanding of suicide bereavement and the appropriate actions that should be taken in such an event for the sake of the family and yourself. The suicide of a loved one has been shown to increase the risk of suicide or suicide attempts of those left behind – with the increase of knowledge you will have after this course, you could provide support that may prevent another person taking their own life.
If you or members of your team would be interested in attending the training, please could you respond to this email with the following information by close of business on 27th October 2019
· Full name of all interested attendees
· Organisation
· Job role(s)
· Email address(es)
· Telephone number(s)
If there is sufficient demand, we can then look to organise some training.
Further information about the course and the team who deliver the training can be found below.
News Hub
