Content notice: This article is about the topic of suicide. Support is available if you need it or are worried about someone else:
Last year the University provided suicide prevention training to around 450 student-facing staff, including Student Advisers, Student Support Managers, Residence Life staff, Security Officers and academics.
This training, delivered in partnership with the charity PAPYRUS, is a key element of our Suicide Safer Strategy 2024-29. This sets out how we will seek to reduce the risk of suicide for all students in our community.
More staff, including Academic Cohort Leads, Programme Directors and teaching staff, will be invited to complete training in 2025.
Staff from across the University, including academics and colleagues from student health and wellbeing services, the Chaplaincy and Legal Services, have been involved in steering this collaborative approach to suicide prevention.
A life-embracing approach
One of those involved is the University’s Dr Liana Romaniuk, a Senior Clinical Lecturer in the School of Clinical Sciences. She is currently researching universities’ approach to suicide prevention and this work has fed into Edinburgh’s approach.
Dr Romaniuk has found that while suicide prevention work used to focus on trying to identify students at risk of taking their own life, recent times have seen a move towards focusing on reducing psychological pain and boosting interconnectedness.
She said: “Universities are increasingly taking action to foster a culture where making mistakes is allowed and failure is something that people can move on from.
“In a university setting, this could mean creating systems where students can get second chances if they fail or make mistakes, as well as promoting realistic norms and expectations for students.
“It’s also about tackling social isolation. This can mean making friends and connecting with others, joining peer groups, or getting involved in volunteering or a project – helping students feel part of something bigger than themselves.”
Further resources and information
You can find out more about the University’s Suicide Prevention work on the Student Lifecycle Management SharePoint and the University’s website:
Suicide Safer Strategy (Student Lifecycle Management Group)
A suicide-safer University | The University of Edinburgh
The University is currently working with our training partner PAPYRUS to arrange additional training on suicide prevention:
Papyrus UK Suicide Prevention | Prevention of Young Suicide
The Staff Health and Wellbeing Hub brings together information, resources and services available to our University employees:
Staff Health and Wellbeing Hub
You can find out more about Suicide Prevention Scotland, and their new ‘What if’ campaign which focuses on encouraging people to have conversations about suicide, on their website: