Introduction According to the American College Health Association there are more than 1,000 suicides on college campuses per year and one out of every ten students have made a plan to commit suicide in the past. Throughout the years the issues involving suicide on college campuses has become a major problem. There have been a multitude of studies that show that college is an especially stressful time for young adults and that measures to prevent suicide have to be taken in order to ensure the safety of the students. Other statistics from the American College Health Association lists that suicide among young adults (15-24) has tripled since the 1950’s and that suicide is the second leading cause of death amongst college students. Many factors …show more content…
There are three main steps for the QPR Gatekeeper training with the first one being the question, which is when the Gatekeeper questions the at risk individual’s wish to commit suicide. The second step is persuasion, which is when the Gatekeeper encourages the at risk person to seek out help for their current problem. The last step in the Gatekeeper program is for the Gatekeeper to refer the at risk individual to the appropriate resources so he or she can get help. The training is fairly brief as it lasts one to two hours from certified instructors either online or in person. QPR also training educates the Gatekeeper about the reasons why one commits suicide, suicide statistics, and other facts and figures about suicide prevention and what they can do to help. The training also shows a video about individuals who have dealt with suicide in any shape or form along with roleplaying to help the Gatekeeper practice is simulated real life situations. At the end of the program the Gatekeeper should have expanded their knowledge base about suicide and what they can do to prevent more suicides. Their ability to intervene for those at risk for suicide should also increase after their training. Gatekeepers who complete the program become knowledgeable about suicide prevention resources …show more content…
In their study they used 240 college resident advisors from six different institutions in the Pacific Northwest consisting of rural and urban campuses. For the study they contacted the colleges through emails and phone calls and received a large sample of Caucasians and female participants. The average age of the participants was 20 and consisted mainly of sophomores and juniors. One telling statistic in this study showed that 46 percent of the sample that was acquired stated they had someone close to them attempt or commit suicide. Out of the six college campuses that volunteered for the study, three of the resident advisors staff received QPR training. Only the college resident advisors who were receiving QPR training received a paper survey before and after they completed their QPR training. They received the standard QPR training for non-medical professionals, which consisted of 1 hour of training taught by a QPR certified instructor. The QPR instructor asked students about commonness of suicide, along with the risk factors for depression and suicide. The instructor also reviewed with the resident advisors the steps that should be taken to help someone who is considering suicide. The remaining resident advisor staffs that did not receive training completed a similar baseline survey but were not required to take a posttest after completing the original survey. After four months both groups were given an online survey to test their