Our evidence, evaluation & consultation
Storm Skills Training is a high-quality, effective self-harm and suicide prevention training package that is backed by a wealth of research, experience, and expertise.
Research is a core part of our identity – it lies at the heart of everything we do, and it always will. Research into the effectiveness of our training methodology is where we started.
What the research and evidence says:
Our training encompasses best practice, research, evidence, and lived experience in self-harm and suicide prevention and related fields.
Studies have demonstrated that our training is effective in:
- Developing and enhancing skills
- Improving attitudes
- Increasing confidence in helping someone who is in distress
The research supports the effectiveness of our training package across a range of audiences including:
Health and social care
Mental health teams
Schools and higher education
Prisons
Primary care
Why is research and evidence so important?
We want you to feel confident that the training you commission is effective.
We are confident about our training package because research shows that it makes a significant difference: improving the skills, attitudes, and confidence of frontline team members in lots of different settings, from schools and prisons to frontline mental health teams.
By comissioning Storm Skills Training, you can feel confident that our training package and methodology is of the highest quality, and that it is based on research, evidence, evaluation, and consultation.
We know it works, but there is always more to learn and additional questions about the package to explore. We are committed to working with our community to further understand the impact of our training on the frontline.
View peer-reviewed publications >
Expert consultation
Consultation is a key part of our approach – we want to make sure what we deliver is relevant and meets the needs of our community. We listen carefully to those in research, practice, and lived experience from self-harm and suicide prevention and related fields.
Consultation has been the driving force behind the changes made to version 5. We formed a steering group in 2021 to help us to review Version 4 and guide us toward the new version of Storm Skills Training in Self-harm and Suicide Prevention – V5.
During this time we have engaged and listened to:
- Frontline team members: those working on the frontline supporting people in distress daily – engaging, assessing, formulating, and safety planning
- People with lived experience: both those who have survived suicidal thoughts and self-harm and those personally affected by suicide
- Customers: those who commission our training or who are considering our training as an option
- Researchers and academics: those who conduct and contribute to research in self-harm and suicide prevention and related fields
- Training consultants: those who deliver Storm Skills Training on our behalf to our customers
- Training facilitators: those who deliver Storm Skills training within their own organisations and communities.
By working with us, you are working with the knowledge and experience of a large and varied community.
Peer-reviewed publications
Storm Research & Evaluation Studies
An evaluation of the implementation of cascade training for suicide prevention during the ‘Choose Life’ initiative in Scotland – utilizing Normalization Process
Gask L, Coupe N, Green G
BMC Health Services Research.
2019; 19:588: 2-11.
Dissemination and implementation of suicide prevention training in one Scottish region
Gask L, Lever-Green G, Hays R
BMC Health Services Research.
2008;8:246.
Improvements to Suicide Prevention Training for Prison Staff in England and Wales
Hayes AJ, Shaw J, Lever-Green G, Parker D & Gask L
Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior.
2008;38(6):708-713.
Evaluating STORM® skills training for managing people at risk of suicide
Gask L, Dixon C, Morriss R, Appleby L, Green G
Journal of Advanced Nursing.
2006;54: 739-750.
The effects on suicide rates of an educational intervention for front-line health professionals with suicidal patients (the STORM® Project).
Morriss R, Gask L, Webb R, Dixon C, Appleby L
PsycholMed.
2005;35(7):957-60.
An educational intervention for front-line health professionals in the assessment and management of suicidal patients (The STORM® Project)
Appleby L, Morriss R, Gask L, Green, G et al
Psychological Medicine.
2000;30(4):805-812.
Pilot study evaluation of suicide prevention gatekeeper training utilising STORM® in a British university setting.
Gask L, Coupe N, McElvenny D, Green G
British Journal of Guidance & Counselling.
2017; 45(5): 593-605.
Impact and acceptability of delivering skills-based training on risk management (STORM®) in Australian secondary schools.
Robinson J, Green G, Spittal M, Templer K, Bailey E
Health Behaviour and Policy Review.
2016; 3(3):259-268(10)
Developments in suicide prevention training for prison staff: STORM® and Beyond
Hayes AJ & Lever-Green G
The Journal of Mental Health Workforce Development.
2006;1(4):23-28
The development, research and implementation of STORM® (Skills-based Training on Risk Management)
Green G & Gask L
Primary Care Mental Health.
2005;3(3):207-213.
The principles of establishing training courses in risk assessment and management.
Droughton J, Gask L, Green G, Dixon C
IN, Duffy D, Ryan T, eds. New Approaches to preventing suicide: A manual for practitioners London.
Jessica Kingsley. 2004
Teaching frontline health and voluntary workers to assess and manage suicidal patients
Morriss R, Gask L & Battersby L. et al
Journal of Affective Disorders.
1999;52:77-83.
Looking back at our history over the last 20 years, we know that nothing would have been achieved without the support and commitment from the Storm Skills Training community.
We began as a small research project at the University of Manchester that has grown and evolved into a successful social enterprise - Community Interest Company.
