Pictured: Dr Penelope Strauss
The Kids Research Institute Australia researcher Dr Penelope Strauss will use a prestigious Post-Doctoral Fellowship from Suicide Prevention Australia to develop and trial a world-first intervention aimed at preventing suicide among LGBTQA+ young people.
The Suicide Prevention Research Fund was established by the Federal Government to support world-class Australian research into suicide prevention and facilitate the rapid translation of knowledge into more effective services for individuals, families, and communities. Post-Doctoral Fellowships granted under the fund enable early career researchers to further their research career.
Dr Strauss will use her fellowship to fill a significant gap in support for young people of diverse gender and/or sexuality, who experience elevated rates of poor mental health, self-harm and suicidality compared to their non-LGBTQA+ peers.
Suicide attempt rates in this population are six times higher than the general Australian adolescent population. However, there have been no evidence-based interventions specifically tailored to reducing suicide risk in LGBTQA+ young people.
Dr Strauss currently leads a program of work focused on strengthening the evidence base for suicide prevention and improving clinical care provided to LGBTQA+ young people.
The fellowship will support Dr Strauss as she builds on her existing research – which has included in-depth interviews with LGBTQA+ young people with lived experience of suicidal ideation and/or attempts, to explore coping methods used during suicidal crisis – and her future work with LGBTQA+ young people to co-design and trial a suicide prevention intervention.
The research will be overseen by a steering group including LGBTQA+ young people with lived experience, partner organisations, and fellow researchers working in this area. Co-design workshops will be held to ensure the intervention meets the needs of LGBTQA+ young people, and the co-design process will be evaluated to inform future co-design projects.
“I’m very grateful to Suicide Prevention Australia for the opportunity to continue this important work,” Dr Strauss said.
The intervention I’m proposing will be the first of its kind worldwide and, if effective, will reduce suicide risk within this population. The findings will also support community services, clinicians and researchers working on suicide prevention for LGBTQA+ young people.
Dr Strauss’s Post-Doctoral Fellowship will be administered through The University of Western Australia. For more information on the latest recipients of Suicide Prevention Australia Post-Doctoral Fellowships, see here.