This poster presentation will present key principles of the brief intervention means reduction which is also known as “counselling to reduce access to lethal means”. It is often part of a safety planning, but may also be a brief intervention on its own. Suicidal thoughts and behaviours are dynamic and change over time. As suicide cannot be reliably predicted, creating a safer environment is key brief intervention for supporting people in suicidal distress.
The Health Education Training Institute (HETI) developed state-wide training resources for Zero Suicides in Care which include an accessible approach to means reduction which can be a challenging and often misunderstood brief intervention.
The four principles of means reduction are remove, reduce, substitute and delay. When suicidality is identified, a collaborative conversation occurs with the person and their chosen supporters.
The preferred strategy is to remove the lethal means by safely disposing of the item or giving the item to another person to store in a safe place. If complete removal is not possible, then consider reducing, substituting and delaying the access where possible.
This tailored approach involves a collaborative conversation that identifies ways to increase safer environments and reduce the person's access to means they were considering or means that may be accessible in their environment.
The training was developed in collaboration with people with a lived experience of suicidality. The collaborative approach models the theme “uniting our voices, brighter futures” for the people we support with suicidal distress within our communities.