A self-harm learning network has been set up to improve the skills and knowledge of people working in school age educational settings and parents, families and carers.
The network, which is part of the Sussex Health and Care Partnership ICS suicide prevention work, aims to prevent and respond to children and young people who are self-harming, including within the context of changes brought about the pandemic.
The project will be delivered by West Sussex Mind and YMCA DownsLink Group.
Objectives
To improve learning and understanding around self-harm among and between the following groups:
- staff working in educational settings.
- parents, families, and carers, both of school age children and young people who self-harm and the wider population.
- public health professionals, commissioners, and other strategic leads with a remit for self-harm and suicide prevention.
To improve learning and understanding, at a minimum covering the following key areas:
- risk factors and populations with an increased risk
- triggers for self-harm
- psychology of self-harm
- prevention of self-harm
- responding to self-harm, short term and mid to long-term
- local services with a remit for self-harm
- educational settings working with self-harm
- families and friends of people who self-harm
- safeguarding and self-harm.
To create sustainable self-harm learning networks for the following groups:
- staff working in educational settings
- parents, families, and carers, both of school age children and young people who self-harm and the wider population.
To support a COVID-19 related return to school that promotes emotional and mental well-being among both children and young people and staff working in educational settings.
To utilise digital and remote approaches to network development to optimise learning around self-harm.
To ensure access to high quality evidence based self-harm resources for all key stakeholders.
To develop a set of quality standards for the development of self-harm resources in Sussex.
To ensure that learning through the Self Harm Learning Network includes both ‘expert’ evidence-based approaches and learning from local experience and issues.