Italian contribution to the Multi-country Survey on Higher Education Multidisciplinary Suicide Prevention Curriculum and Capacity Building

Introduction and objectives: Education and training in suicide prevention have been recognized as important and recommended initiatives within national suicide prevention strategies globally. The need for training professionals in medicine, mental health, healthcare professions, and other sectors involved in direct or indirect care of individuals at risk of suicide is well-documented. In response to this need, an international collaboration has developed a survey on the Multidisciplinary Suicide Prevention Training Curriculum in Higher Education. The aim of the survey is to collect data on the needs and expectations of students from various disciplines regarding suicide prevention education and training. Gathering such data, both nationally and internationally, will inform specific recommendations for each field of study to develop a multidisciplinary suicide prevention curriculum. The ultimate goal is to enhance the skills of future professionals and support global suicide prevention initiatives. Materials and methods: The survey is administered via the Qualtrics Online Survey platform and is directed at undergraduate and postgraduate students. It consists of 55 questions grouped into six domains: I. Demographic Information, II. Personal Experience, III. Personal Skills, IV. Professional Skills, V. Attitudes Towards Suicide Prevention, and VI. Training in Suicide Prevention Curriculum. Data collection began on June 13th. Results: Twenty-eight individuals responded to the survey, all with a background in psychology. Twenty-five respondents were female and 3 were male. The age range was 21 to 33 years. Eighty-six percent (24 individuals) reported having received no training in suicide prevention. Of the 14% who had received such training, three individuals received it at their university and one during a clinical internship. Among those without prior training, 87,5% (21 individuals) indicated they were likely or very likely to enroll in such a course. Overall, 82% (23 participants) believed that suicide prevention training should be mandatory for future healthcare professionals (including doctors, nurses, psychologists, psychotherapists, emergency responders, and social workers). When evaluating their overall competence in the assessment and management of suicide risk, only 3 participants (11%) believe they have adequate skills, while 16 (57%) consider their skills to be marginal in this task, and 9 (32%) feel they are unable to do this task. Conclusions: The results of this survey are not intended to reiterate well-known gaps in suicide prevention training, but rather to highlight which personal and professional skills students consider most important, in which they feel more or less competent, their attitudes toward suicide prevention, and which educational components they prioritize in a suicide prevention course. By extending the survey to a larger sample of students from various disciplines and with diverse educational and professional backgrounds, it will be possible to establish an empirical basis for a multidisciplinary suicide prevention curriculum, with specific recommendations for each disciplinary sector.