Book Review: Preventing and Responding to Student Suicide: A Practical Guide for FE and HE Settings 

Preventing and Responding to Student Suicide: A Practical Guide for FE and HE Settings is a comprehensive reference book which adds to a growing body of guidance on suicide risk, prevention and postvention in university settings. 

Sector work on this topic took a marked step forward in 2018, with the publication of the Suicide-Safer Universities guidance for university leaders and sector practitioners, developed by Universities UK and Papyrus, the UK national charity dedicated to the prevention of young suicide. 

Over the past year this guidance has further been developed to include new resources on supporting placement students, sharing information and suicide response. The University Mental Health Advisors Network (UMHAN) and the Universities and Colleges Branch of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP-UC) have also published important new guidance on information sharing. The Office for Students online resource hub on suicide prevention includes national guidance and statistics and sector case studies. The professional association for student services, AMOSSHE, continues to play a valuable role in supporting sector training and information sharing.

This book, edited by Sharon Mallon and Jo Smith, draws together a range of expert contributions from academics, practitioners, sector professionals and policy makers, drawing on the latest evidence and real-world innovations and providing detailed accounts of what do to in practice, recognising that “many institutions remain unprepared and there continues to be a degree of fear about managing suicide risk and responses even among caring, compassionate and committed staff” [p.12].

The book contains important insights for both FE and HE, for sector leaders as well as practitioners. I want to focus here on four areas which I view as of particular importance for AHUA members.

Firstly, this book highlights the nature and scale of the problem. In Chapter 1, Joanna McLaughlin and David Gunnell remind us that suicide is one of the most frequent causes of premature death in young people and that three-quarters of suicides occur in men. While the rate of suicide for university students in England and Wales has increased in recent years, this is in line with the wider population and, importantly, remains substantially lower than in the general population of similar age.

The authors’ literature review reveals a range of risk factors particularly associated with suicide in higher education students, including social isolation; being in receipt of financial support; academic difficulties (specifically suspension of studies, repeating a year and changing course); experience of transition; and sleep disturbance and insomnia. The chapter concludes by calling for further consideration of these risk factors in student prevention efforts, and for better and more integrated data. For me, this really underlines the importance of current sector work on predictive wellbeing analytics, as piloted at the University of Northumbria and further outlined in the March 2023 student analytics specification from JISC and Professor Edward Peck.

Secondly, this book underlines the many reasons why suicide prevention must be a strategic focus for sector leaders, as well as practitioners.

In Chapter 4, Diana Beech, Sally Olohan and James Murray outline how a ministerial focus on student mental health and suicide prevention in 2018 and 2019 (from Sam Gyimah, Damian Hinds and later Chris Skidmore) contributed to a range of new sector initiatives and resources, and to the promotion of a whole University approach to deliver a step change in support. These authors call on sector leaders to review, evaluate and embed these resources and good practice, and “to encourage the development of compassionate universities – with the right values at their core, communicated and lived by leaders who foster a culture of sensitive and appropriate interventions” [p.91].

Subsequent chapters highlight the need for leaders to draw on all parts of professional services, including in the promotion of online safety and digital citizenship (Chapter 5), in supporting students to navigate the transition from school to university (Chapter 7), in developing training, communications and support for front-facing staff (Chapter 11), and in fostering partnerships with the NHS and other external agencies (Chapter 14). Chapters 10 (Treasa Fox and Jo Smith) and 12 (Mark Ames) present valuable models and case studies for developing suicide prevention strategies, drawing on the Universities UK Stepchange and Suicide-Safer toolkits, the Student Minds Mental Health Charter and examples from the Universities of Worcester and Bristol.

Thirdly, this book provides a valuable set of resources for leaders faced with the challenge of responding to a student death by suicide. This is the focus of Part 2 of the book, including chapters considering the crucial role of Student Services (Chapter 17 by Nic Streatfield) and the support needs of bereaved family members (Chapter 18, David Mosse), bereaved students (Chapter 19, Deidre Flynn) and affected staff (Chapter 20, Hilary Causer). Hilary Causer importantly reminds us that it is not only staff who knew and worked with the student before their death who may be impacted, but also those involved in the crisis response or who relieve the burden of others doing so. Causer calls for consistent and inclusive staff support that goes beyond counselling and listening services (for example, support to reassign workload), and which recognises staff may be impacted for months or years beyond a student death.

Finally, I found the last chapter of the book (Chapter 23) a must read. Lorna Fraser from the Samaritans focusses on the media portrayal of suicide, making a powerful call for responsible reporting as a way of raising awareness, reducing stigma and highlighting sources of support. She rightly notes [p.391] that “the media can play a significant role in raising awareness of the issues surrounding suicide and supporting national efforts to reduce these deaths. News stories which depict this hopeful recovery can serve as powerful testimonies to others that this is possible and could prevent suicide deaths.” Fraser provides valuable advice on managing media liaison and the potential risks, including communicating with coroners; briefing the press; working collaboratively with local media and bereaved families, and managing the community response to media coverage. The Samaritan’s Media Guidelines provide further advice and information.

Preventing and Responding to Student Suicide covers a hugely challenging and complex topic with expertise and sensitivity, drawing on an impressive range of authors and evidence to provide a holistic overview of suicide prevention, response and postvention. I would definitely recommend it as a resource and reference text for AHUA members.

External resource for students can be found here.

Preventing & Responding to Student Suicide: A Practical Guide for FE and HE Settings edited by Sharon Mallon and Jo Smith, Jessica Kingsley Publishers, ISBN: 9781787754188