“Talk” about male suicide? Learning from community programmes
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the contribution of public awareness campaigning in developing community capacity toward preventing male suicide and explores emerging considerations for suicide prevention programme development.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper draws on campaign evaluation data, specifically qualitative discussion groups with the general public, to report results concerning campaign processes, and “interim” effectiveness in changing public awareness and attitudes, and then discusses how progress is to be lasting and transformational.
Findings
The campaign raised the awareness of a substantial proportion of those targeted, and affected attitudes and behaviour of those who were highly aware. The community settings approach was effective in reaching younger men, but there were challenges targeting the public more selectively, and engaging communities in a sustained way.
Practical implications
The paper discusses emerging considerations for suicide prevention, focusing on gender and approaches and materials for engaging with the public as “influencers”. There are challenges to target audiences more specifically, provide a clear call to action, and engage the public in a sustained way.
Social implications
The paper discusses emerging considerations for suicide prevention, focusing on gender and approaches and materials for engaging with the public as “influencers”. There are challenges to target audiences more specifically, provide a clear call to action, and engage the public in a sustained way.
Originality/value
The paper adds fresh evidence of gendered communication processes, including their effects on public awareness, attitudes and engagement. Application of a theory of change model leads to systems level findings for sustaining programme gains.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors acknowledge the support of the Choose Life North Lanarkshire Co-ordinator and project steering group. They also thank the stakeholders that gave valuable time to being interviewed and members of the public for completing taking part in discussion groups. They also thank Professor Kate Hunt, our consultant partner on the evaluation from MRC Social and Public Health Sciences Unit, Glasgow, and the Men's Health Forum, Scotland.
Citation
Robinson, M., Braybrook, D. and Robertson, S. (2013), "“Talk” about male suicide? Learning from community programmes", Mental Health Review Journal, Vol. 18 No. 3, pp. 115-127. https://doi.org/10.1108/MHRJ-12-2012-0034
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2013, Emerald Group Publishing Limited