News > SANE announces groundbreaking study into suicide
Created: 2009-12-03 15:30:54
SANE, a leading mental heath charity, today announces the launch of a major study into suicide, focusing on personal experience. Its aim is to develop new insights into suicide, enabling the public as well as professionals to understand better and respond more effectively.
Families, partners and friends of those individuals at risk are often best placed to help prevent suicides, yet their role is largely overlooked in suicide prevention policy and remains unsupported by research.
The three-year research project, A New Focus for Suicide Prevention: Harnessing Personal Experience, aims to redress this imbalance and is supported by a grant of £387,282 from the Big Lottery Fund.
SANE’s experience is that many suicides can be prevented, and we have been contacted by people who have tried to end their lives who said they were grateful to have survived. However, many also tell us that when they seek help they are met with indifference and delay.
Marjorie Wallace, Chief Executive of SANE, said: “This grant will enable us to harness the thoughts and experiences of the families of people who have attempted or committed suicide, as well as those who have attempted suicide themselves, to understand the subtle, hidden triggers that can lead someone to take their own life.
“The findings will help guide us towards the most effective interventions, enabling the public and professionals in their efforts to reduce the number of people who commit suicide and the legacy of suffering which results.”
The project will increase awareness of the needs of suicidal people, often the young, and lead to new approaches that will benefit the services of 16,000 health and welfare organisations.
Outi Horne, Research Manager at SANE, said: "This grant enables us to carry out important research that will help provide an evidence base for a community-wide approach to suicide prevention.
“Our project will focus on the experiences of those who have lived through the suicide or an attempt by a significant other, as well as those who have attempted suicide themselves, in order to inform policy, service development and public participation in reducing suicides.
“We believe our research can create a novel understanding of suicide that is relevant, helpful and accessible to the general public, many of whom are struggling to identify, make sense of, and alleviate suicidal distress in their family members or peers."
For more information, please contact the SANE media department on 020-7422 5556.
Notes to editors
About the project
The project will use a qualitative, participant-led approach to explore the insights of the people close to those who have attempted or carried out suicide, and those who have attempted themselves (approximately 100 people). This will generate a new set of concepts for predicting, treating and preventing suicidal behaviours.
SANE will lead the project, advised by representatives of beneficiary groups and academic experts in a variety of fields from several UK universities.
SANE’s well-established media profile enables communication of findings at national, regional and specialist levels, with direct public contact via the SANE website. Our access to policymakers allows us to provide briefings and parliamentary input. Dissemination will also involve publications in peer-reviewed journals, presentations at workshops and conferences, and a seminar hosted by SANE.
Training materials will be prepared for SANE’s own staff and volunteers and shared with other relevant organisations.
About the Big Lottery Fund
• The Big Lottery Fund (BIG), the largest distributor of National Lottery good cause funding, is responsible for giving out half the money raised for good causes by the National Lottery.
• BIG is committed to bringing real improvements to communities and the lives of people most in need and has been rolling out grants to health, education, environment and charitable causes across the UK since June 2004. The Fund was formally established by Parliament on 1 December 2006.
• Since the National Lottery began in 1994, 28p from every pound spent by the public has gone to good causes. As a result, over £23 billion has now been raised and more than 317,000 grants awarded across arts, sport, heritage, charities, health, education and the environment.
About SANE
SANE provides practical and specialist help to meet the challenge of mental illness:
• SERVICES: Providing emotional support, care and information for people with mental health problems, their carers and families, through dedicated, specialist Services: SANEline; SANEmail & askTheSite; Discussion Board; Caller Care and Befriending
• RESEARCH: Investigating the causes, nature and impact of mental health problems through rigorous neuroscientific, psychological and social research.
• CAMPAIGNING: Raising awareness; combating stigma; educating and working to improve mental health services (disseminating service user experiences and research findings).
Read here for more information on the Big Lottery Fund