Adolescents present to Australian emergency departments (EDs) for suicide crisis (thoughts, plans or attempts) more than any other age group. Parents are uniquely placed to play a crucial role supporting their adolescent including helping them navigate the complex mental healthcare system, providing means restriction, and informal support. However, parents are often not provided information and support to help them engaging in this critical, life-preserving care after their adolescent is discharged from the ED. Furthermore, there had not been any research conducted which explored the parents’ experiences of accompanying their adolescent who is experiencing a suicide crisis to the ED or what support they require during this time.
This study sought to address this complex issue, culminating in the design of a tool which supports parents during and immediately following the ED presentation. However, given the scarcity of prior research, involvement from individuals with a lived or living experience of accompanying an adolescent child to the ED during a suicide crisis was instrumental ensuring effectiveness of this highly exploratory research. Six parents with relevant lived experience were recruited as members of this study’s lived experience advisory group (LEAG) and supported by Black Dog Institute’s Lived Experience Resource Network. These women were engaged throughout all study stages. During the exploratory interview component, LEAG members’ lived experience was shared to inform the development of the interview guide, which was refined in consultation with the LEAG. Furthermore, a subset of three LEAG members were involved in interview data collection and analysis and contributed to the resulting manuscripts. Based on interview data and LEAG consultation, a survey was developed and reviewed by LEAG members prior to online data collection. Based on the data collected from these interviews and surveys, co-design workshops with LEAG members were conducted which resulted in the design of a pamphlet and website content.
The engagement with lived and living expertise of the LEAG members has been critical to study progression and outcomes. The wealth of knowledge held within the shared experiences of the LEAG members has allowed for a more rigorous, in depth and considered investigation. While not without its challenges, engaging with individuals with lived and living experience has the potential to greatly improve the outcomes of mental health research, demonstrated by the positive impact on this research.
This abstract was accepted to be presented at NSPC 2025, however due to unforeseen circumstances I was unable to present.