Our suicide prevention and mental health workforce needs to be well equipped in contemporary best-practice approaches to assessing suicidality, as psychosocial determinants and mental health concerns increase. Our flagship Systematic Tailored Assessment for Responding to Suicidality protocol (STARS-p) training which has been running for 6 years, develops and enhances competency in the administration of the STARS-p, a psychosocial needs-based assessment and safety response semi-structured interview. The STARS-p training competencies reflect international best practice in psychosocial needs-based assessment which informs collaborative and compassionate care aligned with duty of care and safety standards.
ABOUT STARS-P
STARS-p is licenced training, involving approximately 15 hours of online learning and a 1-day online skills-based webinar workshop, where skills are developed and assessed to demonstrate competency. The training consists of 6 modules:
1) lived experience and worker attitudes;
2) essential concepts ion psychosocial needs-based assessment;
3) structure and application of STARS-p;
4) documentation and duty of care;
5) safety planning; and
6) self-care.
Participants are provided with downloadable handouts, articles and an electronic copy of the STARS-p to support their learning. Following the demonstration of competencies in the workshop, a licence and digital badge are issued to use the STARS-p for 12 months, while a 1-day refresher virtual workshop is required for re-licencing.
AIMS:
- To enhance worker capability in administration of STARS protocol for assessing client suicidality, in a compassionate manner which includes addressing client safety and documentation of minimum standard of client care.
- To enhance worker understanding of the client's story by enticing worker reflection on the client rated concerns of contributing factors towards the suicidal state and experience.
- To assist and guide workers on ways to elicit key client reported concerns subjectively perceived to contribute to suicidality.
- To provide workers with guiding domains of enquiry concerning empirically based risk and protective factor information, short-term or proximal indicators of suicide risk (e.g. warning signs), and current and past suicidality contexts (based on the subjective meaning of these factors for the client).
- To build on existing worker capabilities around the process of suicide risk assessment and response, including documentation of actions taken to bring a client towards a life worth living.
March 2025 Cohort key dates:
- Commences: Monday 3rd February 2025
- Concludes: Friday 14th March 2025
- Webinar Dates: Monday 31st March 2025 or Monday 7th April 2025
