Faith & Suicide: Development and Evaluation of Web-based Resources to Support Faith Leader Intervention Implementation

Background. In 2009, 37,000 people died by suicide, nearly 30 times that number attempted suicide, and 8.4 million had serious suicidal ideation. Faith leaders are well-situated to proactively address suicide prevention and reactively help those at-risk. In fact, 6 of 100 faith members may have serious thoughts of suicide. Unfortunately, there is a dearth of evidence-based resources to help faith leaders effectively integrate suicide prevention into their organizations. We sought to close this gap. Methodology. Guided by established behavioral change and educational theories, nationally distributed interviews followed by quantitative surveys investigated perceived roles, engagement in prevention, and factors related to engagement (e.g. beliefs, resources, barriers). These data were used alongside extensive subject-matter-expert input to drive iterative development of training and support resources for faith leaders. The resources were then evaluated through single-subject usability sessions and a field trial among a diverse sample of faith leaders. Results. Web-based resources—including a media-rich, case-integrated introductory course that covers Faith Leader Roles; Suicide Warning Signs, Triggering Events, and Risk Factors; and Assessing Risk—were developed and evaluated. Participants demonstrated positive stage-of-adoption movement; growth in knowledge, perceived readiness and self-efficacy; and indicated the course was useful, usable, and worth recommending to colleagues. Conclusions. Faith leaders play an important role in suicide prevention and support resources are needed. The presentation describes the development and evaluation of the freely available suicideandfaith.org pilot materials discusses lessons learned, challenges, and next steps, and invites participants to be involved in future efforts. Funded in part by NIMH/NIH#R41MH077401