Citation

Lund EM, Schultz JC, Thomas KB, Nadorff MR, Sias CM, Chowdhury D, DeTore NR, Galbraith K. Omega (Westport) 2017; ePub(ePub): 30222817739215.

Affiliation

Utah State Office of Rehabilitation, Heber, UT, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2017, Sage Publications)

DOI

10.1177/0030222817739215

PMID

29137531

Abstract

Despite the high prevalence of suicide both overall and among people with disabilities in particular, little research has explored suicide in the context of the vocational rehabilitation (VR) system or in counseling support staff in general. We analyzed the responses of 14 VR support staff who responded to an open-ended qualitative prompt regarding their experiences with suicide training and competency. Key themes included a perceived lack of and desire for more training regarding suicide, seeking and receiving suicide training outside of VR, and a perceived lack of resources for working with suicidal clients. Responses also underscored the heavy emotional impact of working with these clients, especially when one feels unprepared to do so. These results suggest that it is important to provide VR support staff with resources and training for addressing suicide in their client populations.

Language: en

Keywords

disability; suicide; suicide competency; support staff; vocational rehabilitation