LA TROBE University Bendigo researchers are seeking to develop an app after creating resources shown to help people better identify and respond to suicide risk.
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Psychology PhD candidate Karien Hill said up to 90 per cent of people who ended their own lives had communicated their distress to family and friends.
Only 20 to 30 per cent had sought professional help.
"If people close to them were better equipped to identify the risks and had more confidence to intervene, we could potentially prevent many of these tragedies occurring," Ms Hill said.
She identified a gap in the resources already available to help people to identify and respond to suicide risk factors and warning signs.
Ms Hill said existing resources helped people identify when something was wrong, and what to do once they had reached a conscious decision to help.
The resources developed as part of her PhD also addressed the steps in between, which had a significant influence on whether or not a person took action.
Not only was it important a person noticed something was wrong, but that they interpreted it as an issue that required urgent action.
They also needed to take personal responsibility for acting, which involved making sure they were competent and confident to assist.
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The resources the La Trobe researchers developed built on the Bystander Intervention Model.
The model increases the likelihood of a person acting in response to any serious situation.
"Most people when they're presented with a situation that requires action do nothing because they think someone else will," Ms Hill said.
She said the proportion of people who did nothing was as high as 75 per cent.
No previous research, that Ms Hill was aware of, had applied the Bystander Intervention Model to suicide prevention.
The resources underpinned by the model were far more effective in motivating people to act, Ms Hill's study found.
More than 280 people were involved in the study.
The research was published in Crisis: The Journal of Crisis Intervention and Suicide Prevention.
Ms Hill's next goal was to secure grant funding to develop an app, enabling people to access the resources.
Her PhD was supervised by La Trobe University Bendigo's Dr Carina Chan.
If you or someone you know is in need of support, call Lifeline on 13 11 14 or visit lifeline.org.au
If life is in danger, call 000.