Question, Persuade, Refer (QPR) Suicide Prevention Training
As part of the LifeSpan Newcastle, Everymind and the Hunter New England and Central Coast Primary Health Network helped empower the community to speak openly and safely about suicide by offering free Question, Persuade, Refer (QPR) online training to people over 18 who lived or worked in the Hunter New England and Central Coast regions. Learn more below.
Training the community to recognise and respond to suicidality
Reaching out to someone we’re worried about is a suicide prevention action that everyone can take. The most important thing we can do after asking “are you ok?” is to listen without judgement and encourage action to increase safety, but sometimes we feel unsure about what to say or do when someone says they are “not ok”.
The good news is that there are suicide prevention education and training programs specifically designed to make sure we know what to say and do when someone may be at risk of suicide and to help us feel ready and able to have these conversations.
The evidence
The two programs with the strongest evidence for improving people’s knowledge and understanding of suicide, and increasing competence and confidence in having conversations with people we are worried about are Question, Persuade, Refer (QPR) and Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST).
What is QPR?
QPR stands for Question, Persuade, and Refer- it is a short online course, which takes just one hour to complete and will give you:
- skills to identify the warning signs of someone at risk of suicide
- confidence to speak to them about their thoughts
- tools to connect them with professional care.
What is ASIST?
ASIST is a two day interactive workshop in suicide first-aid. ASIST teaches participants to recognise when someone may be at risk of suicide and to work with them to create a plan that will support their immediate safety. ASIST is suitable for anyone over 16 years. No prior knowledge is required.
ASIST can only be delivered by accredited LivingWorks instructors. It is delivered locally by Lifeline Hunter Central Coast.
Find out more
To find out when ASIST courses are scheduled and to register to attend, visit the Lifeline Hunter Central Coast training page.