Health Service Executive, National Office for Suicide Prevention

Three smartphone screens displaying a suicide prevention training app called 'Let's Talk About Suicide'. The left screen shows conversation topics, the middle screen displays myths about suicide with a photo of a man in a safety vest, and the right screen shows a toolkit with colourful sections. Below the screens, the title 'Let's Talk About Suicide' is visible, along with text describing it as a free online suicide prevention training programme from the HSE. A red bubble in the corner states 'Learn to confidently engage with a person and speak openly about suicide.' The image has a clean, modern design with pastel colour accents.

At a glance

Company	Health Service Executive, National Office for Suicide Prevention
Industry	Healthcare, Public Sector
Use Cases	Health and Wellbeing, Digital Transformation

Technologies

Aurion High5 design framework
Custom 60 minute eLearning programme
Accessible on multi-device

Key Features

Dramatised video scenarios
Developed with individuals experienced in suicide prevention

The Challenge

The Health Service Executive (HSE) National Office for Suicide Prevention (NOSP) faced a critical challenge: how to empower individuals to engage in potentially lifesaving conversations about suicide.

Addressing the sensitive topic of suicide requires not only knowledge but also the confidence to intervene effectively when someone may be at risk. However, barriers such as stigma, lack of understanding, and limited access to traditional training resources made it difficult for people to gain the skills necessary to support those in crisis.

The Objective

"Let’s Talk About Suicide" was developed with the objective of fostering a deeper understanding of suicide, equipping participants with the skills to engage in lifesaving conversations, and instilling confidence to intervene when necessary.

The Solution

To tackle this challenge, the HSE NOSP partnered with digital healthcare learning experts, Aurion Learning, to create "Let’s Talk About Suicide" — a groundbreaking online training initiative.

This eLearning programme is designed to break down barriers and offer the confidence to talk sensitively and safely with a person about suicide. It provides accessible, engaging, and practical tools for participants.

Aurion Learning utilised its custom eLearning design framework, Aurion High5 to ensure that the training was not only informative and interactive but also accessible on any device. This approach catered to individuals with busy schedules or those who lacked access to traditional training, enabling widespread distribution of the programme.

A laptop screen displays the website for a suicide prevention toolkit. The toolkit offers resources like a self-care scan, lived experiences stories, support services, and downloadable information on signs of suicide. An accompanying phone screen shows two examples of "Signs of Suicide" videos.

The eLearning programme was created in collaboration with individuals who have first-hand experience in preventing suicide. It features dramatised video scenarios, practical strategies for initiating conversations, and guidance on accessing support services, including self-care techniques for both participants and those they aim to support.

These learning strategies include:

A step-by-step, modelled guide to approaching someone who may be thinking of suicide, including guided strategies such as active listening, repeating back, open-ended questioning, and using empathy and compassion, as well as how to get more support for the person.
A chance for participants to explore what they would do in such a situation, using guided video scenarios and questions on what to do, with further videos to show the correct course of action and see if they got it right.
An opportunity for participants to practice how to ask about suicide, recording their own voice and listening back to it.
A toolkit that contains a self-care body scan tool, explorations into real-life lived experiences of suicide, support services and a job aid on signs of suicide.

The Results

The launch of the "Let’s Talk About Suicide" online training program has been a significant step forward in Ireland’s efforts to reduce suicide.

The initiative has empowered many individuals and community gatekeepers to confidently engage with someone who may be at risk of suicide. The programme’s accessibility on various devices ensures that more people can benefit from this vital training, regardless of their circumstances.

The collaboration between HSE NOSP and Aurion Learning has resulted in a progressive and meaningful product that supports the goals of Connecting for Life, Ireland’s National Strategy to Reduce Suicide. The high-quality video scenarios and user-friendly design have made the training programme an effective tool in helping individuals recognise warning signs and communicate effectively to support those in need.