Each year, over 703,000 people take their own lives, according to the World Health Organization. Behind each number is a person, and every suicide is a tragedy that impacts families, communities, workplaces, schools, and organizations.
Suicide is a significant public health issue, and individuals’ reasons for thinking about suicide are as complex and varied as those individuals themselves.
Most importantly, with the right knowledge and skills, everyone can intervene and help a person with thoughts of suicide.
LivingWorks training has the most robust evidence base in the industry.
Over 50 peer-reviewed studies and government reports show that LivingWorks programs increase participant skills to recognize signs a person is having thoughts of suicide and to confidently intervene to help keep them safe. We know our training works as we encourage rigorous evaluation of our programs to ensure we uphold the gold standard of evidence-based suicide prevention training.
LivingWorks suicide prevention skills training is the only training of its kind to be endorsed by the World Health Organization. Our training is accredited by several organizations and associations across the globe, as well as listed within multiple best practice directories. This list is growing year on year.
Our society places a heavy onus on people in distress to seek help themselves and, of course, this is important. But what about the rest of us? What about offering help? Seeing signs of suicide as invitations to help was something LivingWorks pioneered in the early 1980s. We can’t have a clinician on every corner, we need to involve our whole community in meeting this public health need. LivingWorks training is designed to empower a community-based approach to suicide prevention enabling everyone to play a role. With this approach, we are creating powerful networks of safety for people where they learn, work, rest and play.