Safety Planning Intervention Training Among Early Career Mental Health Professionals: Perception of Self-Efficacy, Usefulness and Feasibility

Abstract

Introduction In 2021, in Argentina there were 3,639 deaths by suicide, equivalent to one death every three hours. Evidence indicates that brief suicide preventive interventions in emergency services, such as the Safety Planning Intervention (SPI), effectively reduce future suicidal ideation and attempts in both adults and adolescents. Objective To evaluate the perception of self-efficacy, and the feasibility and usefulness of a training in SPI in early career mental health professionals. Method Sixty-nine early career mental health professionals from Buenos Aires participated in a 3-hour SPI training. Through an online survey, measurements were taken in three times: before and after the training and 8–10 weeks after the training. Results All participants completed the pre- and post-training measures, and 43 of them completed the follow-up survey. Post-training measures showed an increase in self-efficacy, maintaining the effect at 8–10 weeks. The SPI was found useful and feasible to be implemented in clinical care. More than half of the participants reported having used the SPI during follow-up. Conclusion Results suggest that training in SPI is associated with an increased perception of self-efficacy of early career mental health professionals; this is maintained after 2 months post-training. In addition, the intervention is perceived as feasible, acceptable and useful for professionals in training.