Treinamento de gatekeepers como estratégia de prevenção do suicídio no contexto universitário: um estudo qualitativo

Abstract

The subject of this study is suicide prevention in the university context. The aim was to analyze the participation of university staff and students in a training course for gatekeepers on suicide prevention. The model chosen was that of the QPR Institute in the United States, in which the researcher was certified to be an instructor. As this is research with human beings, we submitted our work to the Research Ethics Committee of the Faculty of Medicine of the Federal University of Pelotas, which issued a favorable opinion under No. 75179023.1.0000.5317. The methodology used was a single-case study with a qualitative approach. Thirty-five (35) participants received the training, of which thirty-one (31) subjects - six (06) teaching staff, twelve (12) technical administrative staff and thirteen (13) students - agreed to take part in the second stage of the research, which consisted of answering a semi-structured interview about their participation in the training, which took place on the premises of the Federal University of Pelotas (UFPel) in the first week of December 2023. The data was collected between December 2023 and March 2024. To analyze the data, descriptive statistics, frequency and percentage were used to compare the objective responses in a survey of the same content applied before and immediately after the training, as provided for in the Question, Persuade, Refer methodology. In addition, we categorized the answers to two open questions contained in the registration form and the five questions in the semi-structured interview after the training, using thematic content analysis. The results showed self-reported changes in knowledge about suicide prevention, including confronting the taboos related to the topic, such as the need to openly ask questions about suicide, better handling when approaching a person with suicidal behavior, the security of knowing more about the psychosocial care network in the municipality of Pelotas/RS that is able to receive suicidal crises. The participants recommended that the training be institutionalized, in order to include the largest number of students and civil servants (teachers, technical-administrative staff and outsourced workers) who make up the academic community. It was concluded that participation in gatekeeper training, according to the trained subjects, is a viable strategy that contributes to the suicide prevention scenario in the university context, considering the limits of applicability to the reality of the Federal University of Pelotas (UFPel), the institution to which the participants belong.