Contextualisation and evaluation of the preliminary effectiveness, feasibility and acceptability of the safeTALK suicide prevention programme for secondary school students: protocol for a multi-method study

Aims: To contextualise an existing suicide prevention programme, and to assess the effectiveness, feasibility and acceptability of the contextualised suicide prevention programme among secondary school students in eastern Nepal. Methods and Analysis: A multi-method study is planned across four phases. The study will be informed by the Socio-Ecological Model. The first phase is a systematic review to identify available suicide prevention programmes, their effects and their contextualisation status. The second phase will be a descriptive qualitative study to contextualise the safeTALK suicide prevention programme for use among adolescents in a public school of Eastern Nepal, involving adolescents, teachers, parents, healthcare providers and policymakers. The third phase will be a single-group pre-post-test design to test the preliminary effects of the contextualised safeTALK programme among 110 adolescents at the public school. Outcomes measured in the third study will be suicidal ideation and help-seeking behaviours, using the Suicidal Ideation Attributes Scale, and General Help-Seeking Questionnaire. The final phase will evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of the safeTALK suicide prevention programme through in-depth interviews with adolescents, teachers, parents, healthcare providers and policymakers. Quantitative and qualitative data will be analysed using the Statistical Package of Social Sciences v.30 and NVivo v.14 respectively. Ethics and Dissemination: Ethical approval has been obtained from the Western Sydney University Human Research Ethics Committee and the Nepal Health Research Council. The findings will be disseminated via conference presentations and peer-reviewed publications. Implications for the Profession and/or Patient Care: There are no reported structured suicide prevention programmes for adolescents in low-middle-income countries, including Nepal. This study is expected to assist in mitigating the shortfall of contextualised adolescent suicide prevention programmes in low-middle-income countries. Additionally, evidence will be added to the global nursing literature, helping to contribute to evidence-based nursing practice. Trial Registration: Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (ANZCTR): 12624000634572.