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Cited by 51Suicide and Self-Harm StudiesMental Health Treatment and AccessAgriculture and Farm Safety

The ripple effect: a digital intervention to reduce suicide stigma among farming men

Open access
Kennedy, Alison J., Brumby, Susan A., Versace, Vincent Lawrence, Brumby-Rendell, Tristan·2020·BMC Public Health
DOI 10.1186/s12889-020-08954-5PMC PMC7260777
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Abstract

Background: Compared with the general population, Australian farmers—particularly men—have been identified as at greater risk of suicide. A complex range of factors are thought to contribute to this risk, including the experience of Stigm a. stigma also impacts those who have attempted suicide, their carers, and those bereaved by suicide—manifesting as shame, guilt, social isolation, concealment of death, reduced help seeking and ongoing risk of suicide. This paper evaluates the effectiveness of an intervention, tailored for the farming context, designed to reduce stigma among farming men with a lived experience of suicide. Methods: The digital intervention used an adult learning model providing opportunity to share insights, reflect, learn and apply new knowledge among people with shared farming interests, suicide experience and cultural context. A range of content—tailored to the gender, farming type and suicide experience of participants—included video stories, postcard messages, education and personal goal setting. Pre- and post- assessment of suicide stigma and literacy was complemented by qualitative data collection during the intervention and participant feedback surveys. Results: The intervention was successful in reaching members of the target group from across Australia’s rural communities—with diverse geographic locations and farming industries represented. One hundred and sixty-nine participants from the target group (farming males aged 30–64 years) were recruited. While the Stigma of Suicide Scale failed to identify a reduction in self- or perceived-stigma, qualitative data and participant feedback identified behavioural indicators of stigma reduction. Four subthemes—‘growth’, ‘new realisations’, ‘hope’ and ‘encouragement’—highlighted attitudinal and behaviour change indicative of reduced stigma associated with mental health and suicide. Participants’ baseline suicide literacy (Literacy of Suicide Scale) was high when compared with previous community samples and total literacy scores did not demonstrate significant improvement over time, although literacy about the link between suicide and alcoholism did significantly improve. Conclusions: These results highlight opportunities in groups with high suicide literacy for targeted stigma reduction and suicide prevention efforts for both the target group and other populations within Australia and internationally. Results also highlight the need to reassess how stigma change is understood and evaluated across a wider range of population groups. Trial registration: This research project was registered with the Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (ANZCTR) (ACTRN12616000289415) on 7th March, 2016.

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  • Participation in web-based interventions is associated with decreases in stigmatizing attitudes toward suicide.

    “as well as decreases in stigmatizing attitudes toward suicide [18]”

    From Web-Based Interventions to Help Australian Adults Address Depression, Anxiety, Suicidal Ideation, and General Mental Well-being: Scoping Review (2022) · cites this paper as [18]

    The Results section reports qualitative signs of attitudinal change indicative of reduced suicide stigma among participants in the web-based intervention. However, the Stigma of Suicide Scale found no significant reduction in self- or perceived-stigma, so the claim overstates the evidence for a decrease in stigmatizing attitudes. (LLM, conf=0.88)

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3 of the 53 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.

Research works printed but not linked: 5

  1. [11]Kennedy A Maple M McKay K Brumby S After suicide death in Australia's rural farming communities: Understanding bereavement in the context of traditional patterns of behaviour 2014 Perth 2014 National Suicide Prevention Conference - many communities, one goal
  2. [14]World Health Organisation Preventing suicide: a global imperative 2014 Geneva WHO Press
  3. [17]Kennedy A Brumby S Narrating the lived experience of suicide: reducing stigma through digital storytelling 2016 Canberra National Suicide Prevention Conference
  4. [32]Frey LM. Mental health among suicide attempt survivors: the roles of stigma, self-disclosure, and family reactions. Doctoral Dissertation. University of Kentucky, USA; 2015.
  5. [43]Fishbein M Ajzen I Predicting and changing behaviour: the reasoned action approach 2010 New York Psychology Press

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Authors
Kennedy, A. J., Brumby, S. A., Versace, V. L., & Brumby-Rendell, T.
Affiliations
Deakin University (AU)
Corresponding author
Kennedy, Alison J.
ORCID
Venue
BMC Public Health
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Published
2020-05-29
Volume
20
Issue
1
Pages
813-813
ISSN
1471-2458 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1186/s12889-020-08954-5
PMC
PMC7260777
OpenAlex
W3028922344
Cited by
51
References
53
Citations by year
2026: 3 · 2025: 6 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 7 · 2022: 13 · 2021: 17
FWCI
3.70
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • BMC Public Health (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
  • Figshare (submittedVersion, cc-by)
Funders
beyondblue (CLT:7241)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Suicide and Self-Harm Studies
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Mental Health Treatment and Access
  • Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Plant Science › Agriculture and Farm Safety
Keywords
suicide stigma, digital interventions, suicide prevention, suicide literacy, suicide attempt survivors, rural communities, adult learning, stigma reduction, mental health stigma, alcoholism
MeSH terms
Farmers, Adult, Agriculture, Australia, Female, Health Promotion, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Surveys and Questionnaires, Rural Population, Suicide, Attempted, Urban Population, Social Stigma

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