Compassion sits at the heart of suicide prevention, yet it receives an integrated rather than intentional focus in workforce training. While evidence shows that suicide prevention training improves skills and confidence, skills alone are not enough (Wakai et al., 2020). Improving quality of care after a suicide attempt has been shown to reduce future attempts and deaths (National Mental Health Commission, 2020). However, reports consistently highlight that health workers themselves are at heightened risk of suicide, with stress, burnout, and the emotional demands of care taking a heavy toll (Awan et al., 2022). The Compassion First report (2020) reinforced the urgent need to build a workforce culture grounded in compassion, not only for those in suicidal distress but also for staff themselves. Part of being compassionate when working with people experiencing suicidality is also recognising that as healthcare workers, there may be roadblocks to compassion encountered in our everyday work such as lack of time, fear of saying or doing the wrong thing, stigma, reduced resources. Given this, a compassion-focussed approach to suicide prevention must be intentionally taught and practiced to build a resilient and sustainable workforce.
This presentation will showcase findings from QC18 Suicide Prevention Skills: Core, a new statewide training program developed for the Queensland Health workforce. The program is unique in explicitly centralising compassion as a core competency. Through experiential learning, participants are encouraged to reflect deeply on what compassion looks like in practice, and to explore strategies for embedding compassionate care into their work with people experiencing suicidal distress. In recognising that suicide prevention is everyone’s business, the training was designed for the entire workforce – not just clinicians – ensuring accessibility and relevance across diverse roles. Uniting the voices of clinicians and lived experience workers throughout the program provides a unique, inclusive learning experience that positions compassion as a core skill in suicide prevention.
Evaluation data from pre-, post-, and three-month follow-up surveys will be presented. These show measurable improvements in skills, confidence, and compassionate practice. Additionally, qualitative feedback and video reflections from clinicians and lived experience workers will highlight the transformative impact of explicitly teaching compassion, both for the care of others and for self-care among staff. Together, these voices highlight how compassion can strengthen skills, sustain the workforce, and inspire hope. By explicitly embedding compassion into suicide prevention training, we take an important step towards building a more connected, resilient, and hopeful future.