Universities UK in partnership with PAPYRUS Prevention of Young Suicide and Samaritans - 2023
Published today by Universities UK in partnership with PAPYRUS Prevention of Young Suicide and Samaritans, funded by the Office for Students, the guidance Responding to a suicide: advice for universities is written by the sector for the sector with advice from practitioners, experts and bereaved families.
It provides practical advice for student support teams, including a checklist to guide staff after a student death.
Recommendations to universities include:
- Establishing a dedicated 'postvention' team to deal with any student death
- Developing a death response plan for student services and other first responders.
- Ensuring all staff receive training in what to do if they learn of a student death
- Providing kind and timely support to family and friends and handling matters such as belongings, accommodation and student finance.
- Recording and carrying out critical incident reviews of all student deaths. This should be led by a senior member of staff and should identify specific actions to prevent future suicides
The guidance is the first of its kind to set out the challenges that need careful and compassionate management following any student death but especially a suspected death by suicide.
The guidance emphasises the impact on families, friends and wider communities of staff and students and the importance of providing practical and emotional support, including psychological support.
Responding to a suicide: advice for universities
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