Home Suicide Prevention Resource Center SPRC

Promoting Community Conversations About Research to End Suicide (PC CARES) Training of Facilitators

University of Michigan-Ann Arbor

Website: https://www.pc-cares.org/

Program Type

Education or Training Program

Cost

$2,501 or more

Evidence Type

Community-Defined Evidence, Empirically-Defined Evidence

SPRC Comprehensive Approach

Increase Help-Seeking, Postvention, Reduce Access to Means, Life Skills and Resilience, Connectedness

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Program or Intervention Summary

To reduce youth suicide risk before a suicide crisis, PC CARES (Promoting Community Conversations About Research to End Suicide) offers adults actionable and research-informed suicide prevention best practices to promote mental wellbeing and reduce suicide risk. PC CARES trains community health workers to facilitate a series of five 3-hour Learning Circles (LCs) to develop a ‘community of practice’ (CoP), whereby trusted adults, who are in different roles in the lives of young people (a) learn about suicide prevention research and best practices; (b) tailor the suicide prevention knowledge and practices to their culture and community; (c) build cross-sector relationships (parents, teachers, etc.), and (d) do more for prevention. The five session curriculum includes four research-based Learning Circles, where research facts and best practices for prevention are shared and discussed, and one final wrap-up Learning Circle for participants to briefly review all the information presented and reflect on their learning overall. Each session shares evidence-informed, actionable strategies: from enhancing social support for youth to reducing harm/risk (e.g., lethal means safety), which participants adapt and apply in their interactions with youth.
The PC CARES Training of Facilitators (ToF) is a key element to the broader PC CARES intervention. This 40-hour training of trainers prepares local people to host learning circles in their communities.

The Training of Facilitators includes these key features:

  1. Locally led – Individuals from the community who will host the learning circles attend ToF to become facilitators.
  2. Embedded – PC CARES works best when facilitators have jobs that enable them to participate in a 5-day training of facilitators, recruit for, and host PC CARES learning circles. The ToF can also be offered as part of an educational pathway, where hosting LCs is included in student practicum hours.
  3. Community oriented – The communities hosting PC CARES learning circles are supportive and ready to have conversations about suicide prevention.
Type Education or Training Program
Setting In-person, Community, Tribal communities
People People Who Live in Rural Areas, People who live in Tribal communities, Mental Health Professionals, People in Particular Occupations
Languages English
Study Method Quantitative Design, Qualitative Design, Mixed Methods Design
Implementer Requirement Adults, People with suicide-centered living or lived experience, Traditional/Natural helper, Community Laypeople, Family Mentors, Tribal members, Mental health treatment providers, Substance use treatment providers, Other Specific Group
Training Requirement Yes
Delivery Options In-Person
Risk and Protective Factors Sense of hopelessness, Social isolation, Historical trauma, Stigma associated with help-seeking and mental illness, Easy access to lethal means of suicide among people at risk, Reasons for living (for example, family, friends, pets, etc.), Strong sense of cultural identity, Support from partners, friends, and family, Feeling connected to others, Feeling connected to school, community, and other social institutions, Reduced access to lethal means of suicide among people at risk

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