Social work practice instructors’ preparedness and readiness to teach suicide content

Abstract

ABSTRACT Suicide is a major public health issue worldwide, with approximately 46,000 individuals dying by suicide each year in the United States alone. To prepare a mental health workforce to work effectively with individuals with suicidal thoughts and behaviors, schools of social work must teach students to use evidence-based practices for suicide prevention, intervention, and postvention. This descriptive study includes undergraduate and graduate practice instructors (N = 267) at accredited American colleges and universities. Participants described their level of knowledge about 21 suicide competencies (e.g. safety planning, evidence-based interventions, means safety conversations) and then completed a survey of evidence-based practices in suicide prevention. While high levels of perceived knowledge were found in some areas, there were differences between undergraduate and graduate instructors perceived knowledge, and knowledge levels were low in areas such as culture, working with loss survivors, and means safety. Knowledge of evidence-based practices was inconsistent, with as many as half endorsing several non-evidence-based practices. Implications for schools of social work are discussed, including the need for increased leadership in suicide prevention from national social work organizations, more support for practice instructors to teach suicide content, and an increased focus on suicide postvention skills.