Digital technologies will transform suicide prevention. They can scale the reach of effective interventions, bridge the gap between workforce learning and practice, offer insights into what drives risk and resilience in real-time and engage support when it is needed. This symposium will explore diverse, new and emerging technologies that will deliver a brighter future for suicide prevention.
Summarising the findings of a systematic review, Dr Natasha Josifovski will describe the efficacy of digital suicide prevention interventions across clinical, community and education settings- considering what works for who and where. She will outline the clinical and methodological factors we need to consider (and address) to be confident in our conclusions about the efficacy of digital technologies in reducing suicidal thinking, feelings and behaviours.
Ecological momentary assessment (EMA) is a method that collects real-time data about suicidality (and its context) by participants responding to ‘beeps’ on their phone. Drs Elise Carrotte and Eleanor Bailey will provide a snapshot of a pilot EMA study, conducted as part of the large collaborative Right Here, Right Now youth suicide prevention program. They will outline the safety, acceptability, feasibility and acceptability- and pros and cons- of using this novel approach in suicide prevention research.
Artificial intelligence (AI) could be a game changer in suicide prevention, but there is still a lot to learn. Dr Alex Provost will describe how the Access Lab are using AI-generated “patients” to provide clinicians an opportunity to practice clinical skills and interventions- before using the interventions in real life. He will describe key learnings from a pilot study where this approach has been used to complement traditional safety planning education.
Finally, Jess Wilcox, a lived and living experience advocate with tertiary qualifications in Information Technology will provide her perspective on the key benefits and challenges for the digital technology and suicide prevention intersection. From the perspective of a person with lived and living experience, Jess will highlight key considerations and what she sees as being the big issues the sector needs to grapple with to ensure technology is utilised safely and effectively.
The session will finish with questions from the floor and a panel discussion to synthesise what we can learn from these different experiences and knowledge bases- to reach a shared and balanced perspective about the potential and pitfalls of digital technologies within suicide prevention- and how we can ensure it is a key enabler for a brighter future.