abstract: Despite the evidence that suicide risk assessment training is necessary only 40-50% of psychology programs offer risk assessment training (Granello & Juhnke, 2010). In the present study an online suicide risk assessment and safety plan training workshop for graduate students in the field of psychology was investigated. Participants were randomly assigned to the control condition (lecture) or the treatment condition (lecture + demonstration). Measures of declarative knowledge of suicide risk and protective factors, application to clinical scenarios, and risk assessment and management self-efficacy scales were administered before and after completion of the workshop. Two way repeated measures ANOVA's were conducted with repeated time measures to evaluate the Time X Condition interaction. While there was a significant main effect of time on all three dependent variables, there was no significant time X condition interaction. In contrast to predictions, the added component of a demonstration did not result in greater improvements in application to clinical scenario multiple choice questions or risk assessment and management self-efficacy. Post hoc moderation analysis revealed demonstration enhanced the effects of knowledge acquisition and assessment of clinical scenarios for individuals who reported the training was less relevant to their current work. Implications of findings and directions of further research are discussed. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Counseling Psychology 2016

Bakgrund: Suicid är ett stort folkhälsoproblem i Sverige. Det är oklart hur arbetsterapeuter arbetar suicidförebyggande inom psykiatrimottagningar. Det saknas forskning kring evidensbaserade arbetsterapeutiska metoder och interventioner som är suicidpreventiva.  Syfte: Syftet med studien var att belysa hur arbetsterapeuter arbetar suicidförebyggande med vuxna personer inom psykiatrimottagningar.   Metod: En kvalitativ intervjustudie med induktiv ansats där 11 intervjuer genomfördes och analyserades med en kvalitativ innehållsanalys. Avsiktligt urval användes och kompletterades med ett snöbollsurval. Resultat: Resultatet presenterades i tre kategorier: “arbetsterapeutiskt perspektiv och arbetssätt inom psykiatrin”, “förmågor och erfarenhet i mötet med suicidriskpatienter” samt “organisationens rutiner för suicidprevention”. Detta mynnade ut i två teman: indirekt och direkt suicidprevention. Arbetsterapeuter arbetar indirekt suicidpreventivt genom meningsfulla aktiviteter, vanor, rutiner och roller. Direkt suicidprevention innefattar ett professionsgemensamt perspektiv med suicidriskbedömningar samt kris- och handlingsplan. Slutsats: Arbetsterapeuter arbetar mestadels indirekt suicidförebyggande med skydds- och riskfaktorer, meningsfulla aktiviteter, vanor, rutiner och roller. Det är också viktigt med en god patientrelation samt att våga fråga om suicid. Implikationer: Studien har belyst arbetsterapeutens roll inom psykiatrimottagningar i Sverige samt professionens perspektiv på patienten. Vidare behövs mer forskning gällande arbetsterapins betydelse inom suicidprevention, såsom evidensbaserade arbetsterapeutiska interventioner. / Background: Suicide is a major public health problem in Sweden. It is unclear how occupational therapists work with suicide prevention in psychiatric clinics. There is a lack of research on evidence-based occupational therapy methods and interventions that are suicide preventative. Aim: The purpose of the study was to highlight how occupational therapists work to prevent suicide among adults in psychiatric clinics. Method: A qualitative interview study with an inductive approach with 11 interviews and analyzed with a qualitative content analysis. Purposive sampling was used and supplemented with snowball sampling. Results: The results were presented in three categories: "occupational therapy perspective and working methods in psychiatry", "capability and experience in dealing with suicidal patients" and "the organization's routines for suicide prevention". This resulted in two themes: indirect and direct suicide prevention. Occupational therapists work indirectly to prevent suicide through meaningful activities, habits, routines and roles. Direct suicide prevention includes a collective professional perspective with suicide risk assessments as well as crisis and action plans. Conclusions: Occupational therapists mostly worked indirectly on suicide prevention with protective and risk factors, meaningful activities, habits, routines and roles. It is also important to have a good patient relationship and to dare to ask about suicide. Implications: The study has highlighted the occupational therapist's role within psychiatric clinics in Sweden as well as the profession's perspective on the patient. Furthermore, more research is needed regarding the importance of occupational therapy in suicide prevention, such as evidence-based occupational therapy interventions.