About the Research

The overarching goal of the “worth living”-project is to sustainably improve suicide prevention at 13 schools in the province of Salzburg. In addition to half-day workshops for students and pedagogical conferences, the program also includes training for people who want to be particularly involved in suicide prevention and take on a role as gatekeepers at their school.

As part of the evaluation process, we accompany the essential steps of the implementation of the project and examine its concrete effects. The participants’ learning outcomes of are detected with a focus on the following areas: knowledge about suicidality, recognizing signals for suicidal tendencies in others and oneself, strategies for action and options for assistance in working with people at risk of suicide, as well as measures to promote resilience.

Methodologies

IAs part of the outcome evaluation, the concrete effects of “worth living” on the target groups are recorded. Online surveys and qualitative interviews are used. In terms of content, the participants’ learning outcomes of are detected with a focus on the following areas: knowledge about suicidality, recognizing signals for suicidal tendencies in others and oneself, strategies for action and options for assistance in working with people at risk of suicide, as well as measures to promote resilience.

Additionally, we conduct a comprehensive stakeholder analysis. For the analysis, individual graduates of the gatekeeper training course are selected based on theoretical considerations and interviewed individually.

Output

Current preliminary results of all three parts of the survey as well as potential needs for adjustments in the project implementation are presented and put up for discussion at several steering committee meetings in order to ensure continuous monitoring. The overall results of the evaluation are compiled in a final report and discussed regarding potential further development of “worth living”.