SFA 06 - SFA Lite Essential Services

Description

This programme provides participants with the foundational knowledge and practical skills needed to effectively intervene in situations where someone may be contemplating suicide due to financial stress.

Designed for individuals working in financial services or roles impacted by financial issues, this programme equips you with the tools to recognise the signs of suicide thoughts and behaviour linked to financial hardship. It shows you how to initiate lifesaving conversations and connect individuals with appropriate resources. Whether you're a healthcare professional, educator, HR personnel, community leader, or concerned family member, this programme empowers you to make a real difference.

Key Learning Outcomes:

• Understanding Suicide and Financial Stress: Gain insights into the complex factors that can lead to suicide thoughts and behaviours in individuals experiencing acute financial stress, including economic pressures, mental health challenges, and societal factors.
• Recognising the Signs in Financially Stressed Individuals: Learn how to identify the verbal, behavioural, and situational indicators that someone facing financial hardship may be at thinking about suicide.
• Effective Communication Techniques for Financially Distressed Individuals: Develop skills to engage in sensitive and supportive conversations tailored to those struggling with financial stress, helping to de-escalate crises and offer hope.
• Immediate Intervention Strategies for Financial Stress: Acquire practical tools and approaches for providing immediate support to individuals vulnerable to suicide due to financial stress, including how to refer them to mental health professionals and financial counselling services.
• Ethical Considerations in Suicide Prevention for Financial Stress: Understand the ethical responsibilities involved in suicide prevention within the context of financial hardship, including confidentiality, consent, and the importance of self-care.

What you will learn

Part 1: Understanding the Impact of Financial Stress on Suicide Behaviour

• Introduction & Programme Outline: Overview of the programmes and its objectives, focusing on the relationship between financial stress and suicide behaviour.
• Working with Attitudes & Values: Explore how personal and societal attitudes toward financial hardship and mental health can influence suicide thoughts.
• Stigma, Survivors of Financially Related Suicides, and the Hidden Toll®: Understand the hidden emotional burden carried by those left behind after a suicide related to financial stress.
• Suicide – The Ripple Effect®: Review sector-specific statistics on how financial stress contributes to suicide behaviour and its broader impact on communities.
• Understanding Suicide Thoughts and Behaviours Linked to Financial Stress: Learn about the various ways financial difficulties can lead to suicide ideation.
• Intention vs. Outcome of Behaviour®: Examine the differences between a person's intentions under financial stress and the actual outcomes of their actions.
• Possible Causes of Suicide Thoughts: Identify the potential triggers of suicide thoughts in individuals experiencing financial hardship.

Part 2: Practical Skills for Supporting Individuals

• Meeting the Needs of a Person Contemplating Suicide Due to Financial Stress: Learn how to address the specific needs of individuals whose suicide thoughts are driven by financial pressures.
• Suicide-Safety Guide – 3 Step Model:
• Step 1 – Recognising and Asking about Suicide Thoughts: Understand how to identify warning signs and ask the right questions in conversations with those facing financial difficulties.
• Step 2 – Listening to Understand and Exploring Options: Explore the importance of listening and how to discuss and explore different support options with a person having thoughts of suicide.,
• Step 3 – Helping You Cope: Strategies for supporting both the person at risk and yourself through challenging situations, with a focus on financial stress-related crises.
• Self-Care for Suicide First Aiders®: Understand the importance of self-care and how to manage the emotional impact of working with those affected by suicide.