PS41 - Delivery and Evaluation of Support for People Bereaved by Suicide

Measuring What Matters in Suicide Postvention
August, 30 | 17:30 - 19:00

Suicide postvention is recognised as a vital element of suicide prevention; governments from around the world are increasingly funding postvention supports as part of broader suicide prevention plans. To inform evidence-based decision making, funders often seek demonstration of the outcomes of these supports. However, attempting to understand and measure outcomes in the context of suicide bereavement often raises more questions than it answers: what improvements can reasonably be expected? How can improvements be disentangled from the “normal” grieving process? What outcomes actually matter to people bereaved by suicide? The presentation will deliver findings from a scoping review which sought to map how outcomes and experiences are captured in interventions that support people following a sudden and traumatic loss. The search identified 49 relevant peer-reviewed articles from which key information was extracted. The findings indicate a multitude of approaches, methods, and tools employed to measure outcomes, with customised tools being commonplace. Among standardised tools, the Grief Experience Questionnaire (GEQ) and Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II) emerged as frequently used. Most authors provided some justification for their chosen outcome measure methodology, citing appropriateness for the participant group, alignment with past practices, contribution to result robustness, and facilitation of a deeper understanding. To assess the helpfulness to inform ongoing service delivery, each outcome measure approach was evaluated against set criteria. The evaluation identified 11 papers that used outcome measure methodologies that could be considered helpful. Commonalities observed among these methodologies included the use of pre- and post-intervention measures, explicit linkage between the objectives and chosen outcome measures, the utilisation of abbreviated scales, and flexibility in data collection formats. What implications does this have for suicide postvention? The findings highlight the vast and varied ways that outcome measurements are conceptualised and utilised in bereavement interventions. In suicide postvention, where data and evidence-informed investments are becoming increasingly crucial, it is essential for literacy in outcome measurement to mature. Audience members will be invited to reflect critically on how and why to embed meaningful outcomes measures as part of ongoing service delivery.

Speakers