Online suicide prevention tool for university students

A Curtin Health Sciences team has developed an online suicide-prevention tool to identify university students who are at risk of suicide, and offer referral and intervention before they are suicidal. New approaches to identifying youth most at risk are vital to suicide interventions, with research suggesting that in the past year 1% of Australian university students have attempted suicide and more than one-quarter have thought about ending their life.

The Curtin team has developed a predictive algorithm that uses multiple factors to identify at-risk students, which is built into a screening survey that students can complete when commencing university. When the algorithm identifies a student at risk, an alert is sent to the project coordinator, and a team-member contacts the student to work together to develop safety plans and identify appropriate supports. The current pilot study at Curtin has to date helped several students with emergency, life-saving care and supported hundreds to access appropriate services. While the tool will be of interest to the entire tertiary education sector, there is potential for it to be of use in workplaces and community sectors where a high incidence of the cohort report suicidal thoughts.

The project has been recognised at the 2022 Curtinnovation Awards as the winner of the Teaching and Learning Prize.

Team: Professor Penelope Hasking, Dr Kealagh Robinson, Professor Peter McEvoy. 
Support: Suicide Prevention Australia Research Fund, Feilman Foundation.