The importance of informal carers in suicide prevention - supporting the support network
I recently had the pleasure and honour of speaking with Dr. Karen Lascelles, an expert with 35 years of experience as a Mental Health Nurse.
Karen is a Lecturer in Mental Health Nursing at Oxford Brookes and a Researcher at Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust. She has worked as a Mental Health Nurse for 35 years and for the past decade, Dr. Lascelles has dedicated her clinical and research efforts to the crucial area of self-harm and suicide prevention. Her professional doctorate focused on the experiences and needs of adult family members and friends who have provided informal care for an adult at risk of suicide.
In the conversation, Karen shares valuable insights on supporting informal carers. She highlights the valuable and necessary role they play in supporting individuals vulnerable to suicide and self-harm, offering a perspective that is insightful and impactful.
Some of the key topics covered include:
- Definition and distinction between formal and informal carers, and the importance of language and terminology in discussing caregiving roles
- The experiences of carers supporting individuals at risk of suicide including the challenges they face such as changes in family dynamics and relationships and dealing with uncertainty
- Support needs
- Role of informal carers in psychosocial assessment and safety planning
- Policy and practice recommendations such as recognition of informal carers in suicide prevention strategies and training for healthcare professionals across the career pathway
- Essential skills for professionals and the importance of incorporating a family systems ethos in all training
The full video of our conversation is available on our YouTube channel.
I genuinely enjoyed and valued my conversation with Karen! I was impressed by the significance and relevance of her research findings. The conversation highlighted the importance of developing our skills to engage and support the support network - informal carers when working with someone facing suicidality. I was struck by the insights Karen provided regarding the changing needs of informal carers, noting that early in the journey, the focus is on cure and, over time, may shift to the acceptance of uncertainty.
Karen’s insights and research align with Storm Skills Training's core belief in the importance of the whole person and their interconnectedness with others, particularly through a family systems approach that considers the context of family relationships and dynamics, as well as the evolving nature of a person’s life and those around them.
Engaging with the support network not only helps the person in distress but also provides essential support to those caring for them. This is particularly important because people experiencing self-harm or suicidal thoughts may seek support from friends and family first, not professional services. Supporting a person in distress can be stressful and distressing. Our training emphasises understanding both the individual's needs and their support network's experiences. Lived experience research highlights that families and carers need validation and support. By strengthening these networks, we indirectly support individuals in crisis, creating a more understanding, compassionate, holistic approach to mental health care.
Dr. Lascelles' work reminds us that behind every person in distress, there's a network of care, resilience, and hope. Her research is a testament to the unsung heroes who support their loved ones through the most challenging times.
Further reading and resources:
Dr Karen Lascelles
Senior Lecturer, Oxford Brookes University
Dr Karen Lascelles, researcher at Oxford Health NHS FT and senior lecturer for mental health nursing at Oxford Brookes. I have worked as a mental health nurse for 35 years and had a specific clinical and research focus on self-harm and suicide for the past decade. My professional doctorate investigated the experiences and needs of adult family members and friends who provide informal care for an adult at risk of suicide. Additional research interests include the impact of suicide on clinicians, suicide among nurses and bereavement by suicide. Although not currently directly involved in the multicentre monitoring system I have worked with the team on various research endeavours over the years and as a psych liaison clinician have contributed to the data collection for many years.
