Suicide Cultures WP1

  • Research type

    Research Study

  • Full title

    Suicide Cultures: Reimagining Suicide Research - Workpackage 1

  • IRAS ID

    288825

  • Contact name

    Amy Chandler

  • Contact email

    a.chandler@ed.ac.uk

  • Sponsor organisation

    University of Edinburgh

  • Duration of Study in the UK

    3 years, 11 months, 2 days

  • Research summary

    Understanding how suicides are practised and explained can inform suicide prevention activities. However, we know little about the ways that meanings, explanations and practices of suicide vary across different regions of Scotland, different organisations, communities or services. This study uses novel, qualitative methods to study how suicide is carried out and the meanings it has, across diverse settings and groups of people. One part of the study (WP1) will investigate how suicides are explained in formal reviews carried out by NHS Mental Health Teams, and Multi-Agency Suicide Review Groups. We will analyse up to 300 reviews of probable suicides across four health board areas, focusing on the same time period (within 2010-2019). We will access pseudonymised reviews, and develop a qualitative data set which will be analysed to look for patterns of: practices of suicide described, explanations for suicides, key messages from reviews, context and location of reviews. Findings will inform: ongoing work developing approaches to reviewing all suicides in Scotland (Action 10 of the Every Life Matters Strategy Document), wider suicide prevention research and practice, other WPs in the Suicide Cultures research project, which will explore these issues among community members. WP1 will be completed by Summer 2022, with other WPs (in community settings) ongoing until 2025.

  • REC name

    HSC REC A

  • REC reference

    21/NI/0171

  • Date of REC Opinion

    1 Nov 2021

  • REC opinion

    Further Information Favourable Opinion