‘Question, Persuade, Refer’: OHS students learning mental health crisis response

Note:

This article was originally published by WFIE. View here.

OWENSBORO, Ky. (WFIE) – RiverValley Behavorial Health has announced a new partnership with Owensboro High School to provide “QPR” suicide prevention training.

“QPR” stands for “Question, Persuade, Refer.” This type of training will be for all OHS freshmen.

Approximately 300 students will participate in this evidence-based training starting on Tuesday, February 17 through February 20.

“By teaching these freshmen, they are going to go through their entire program here equipped with the skills to help others, and recognize when their friends, or their family members, or their community, or siblings may be in need,” Gerrimy Keiffer, Director of Community Health Evaluations at RVBH, said.

OHS Principal Jennifer Luttrell and officials with RiverValley Behavorial Health Partners have been talking about ways to help students by promoting more mental health awareness and reducing the stigma.

Through this training by RiverValley Behavioral Health, students will learn to recognize warning signs of suicide, ask questions, and encourage those around them to seek help.

“I think it’s important to learn because suicide has gone up so much lately, especially in teenagers, and I think it’ll help me be able to help my friends out, and if they’re going through a hard time, I can help them learn how to regulate it and how to get help,” OHS freshman Zoey Huff said.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), suicide is still one of the leading causes of death among teenagers in the United States. In Kentucky, recent data shows that a significant percentage of high school students say they’ve experienced persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness.

“Because everybody is suffering and hurting in silence, and no one is talking about it, the issue persists. So skills like QPR, and normalizing it at this early of an age for kids, I think and I know it’s made a world of difference. People are much more open about talking about having these kinds of negative emotions. And seeking help and knowing that it’s okay,” Keiffer said.

12 training sessions will be offered over four days. Seven RVBH trainers will work collaboratively to ensure all students receive the instruction.

OHS and RVBH intend to continue working together like this to provide additional related training to OHS seniors in April of this year.