title: Effectiveness of suicide prevention gatekeeper-training for university administrative staff in Japan.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Suicide is a leading cause of death among Japanese college and university students. Gatekeeper-training programs have been shown to improve detection and referral of individuals who are at risk of suicide by training non-mental-health professional persons. However, no studies have investigated the effectiveness of such programs in university settings in Japan. The aim of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of the gatekeeper-training program for administrative staff in Japanese universities.
  
  
  METHODS
  We developed a 2.5-h gatekeeper-training program based on the Mental Health First Aid program, which was originally developed for the general public. Seventy-six administrative staff at Hokkaido University participated in the program. Competence and confidence in managing suicide intervention, behavioral intention as a gatekeeper and attitude while handling suicidal students were measured by a self-reported questionnaire before, immediately after and a month after the program.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We found a significant improvement in competence in the management of suicidal students. We also found improvements in confidence in management of suicidal students and behavioral intention as a gatekeeper after training, though questionnaires for those secondary outcomes were not validated. These improvements continued for a month. About 95% of the participants rated the program as useful or very useful and one-third of the participants had one or more chances to utilize their skills within a month.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The current results suggest the positive effects of the training program in university settings in Japan. Future evaluation that includes comparison with standard didactic trainings and an assessment of long-term effectiveness are warranted.
authors: Department of Psychiatry, Graduate School of Medicine, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan.|Health Care Center, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan.|Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, USA.
authors: Naoki
authors: N
authors: Hashimoto
authors: Department of Adult Mental Health, National Institute of Mental Health, National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry, Tokyo, Japan.
authors: Yuriko
authors: Y
authors: Suzuki
authors: Department of Neuropsychiatry, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan.
authors: Takahiro A
authors: TA
authors: Kato
authors: Department of Neuropsychiatry, Keio University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan.
authors: Daisuke
authors: D
authors: Fujisawa
authors: Department of Psychiatry, Yokohama City University School of Medicine, Yokohama, Japan.
authors: Ryoko
authors: R
authors: Sato
authors: Department of Psychiatry, Yokohama City University School of Medicine, Yokohama, Japan.
authors: Kumi
authors: K
authors: Aoyama-Uehara
authors: Department of Adult Mental Health, National Institute of Mental Health, National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry, Tokyo, Japan.
authors: Maiko
authors: M
authors: Fukasawa
authors: Department of Psychiatry, Graduate School of Medicine, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan.|Health Care Center, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan.
authors: Satoshi
authors: S
authors: Asakura
authors: Department of Psychiatry, Graduate School of Medicine, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan.
authors: Ichiro
authors: I
authors: Kusumi
authors: Department of Neuropsychiatry, Disaster and Community Psychiatry, Iwate Medical University, Iwate, Japan.
authors: Kotaro
authors: K
authors: Otsuka
mesh_terms: D000288:Administrative Personnel / Q000193:education* / Q000523:psychology; D000328:Adult; D004493:Education / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D020793:Gatekeeping; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015397:Program Evaluation; D014495:Universities; D000092864:Suicide Prevention
keywords: college; depression; mental health first aid; student; suicide intervention