A Scottish local authority is taking an original approach to reduce stigma and discrimination surrounding mental health. It is reaching out to sufferers by forging a link with the fast-food chain McDonald's.
In this unique move, McDonald's employees have been trained to spot signs of severe distress among customers and staff as part of an innovative suicide prevention strategy spearheaded by North Lanarkshire council. High suicide rates, especially among young men in Scotland, have prompted the initiative, which also involves NHS Lanarkshire.
Over the past 12 months, staff in McDonald's restaurants have been trained to help customers. People who appear in crisis are counselled by staff who advise them to focus on what they have to live for, and also offer to call a family member.
This pioneering approach by the local authority has been so successful that it has now been extended to taxi drivers, and the council is also offering SafeTALK suicide alert training to local hairdressers.
For the past 40 years, suicide rates in Scotland have been 80% higher than the rest of the UK and there is wide recognition that action is needed urgently to address the problem. Nationally, suicide-prevention work rests mainly in the hands of social workers, health staff and charities. However, council officials targeted McDonald's as they believed they needed to create a greater public awareness of the risk of suicide and give people suicide prevention skills.
Lynne Cruickshank, a senior social worker for young adults in North Lanarkshire, says: "Although the majority of the national work has focused on social work and health staff, we felt that it was essential to raise awareness with the wider public increasing the number of people in the community who are trained."
Posters appealing to people to "Choose Life" have been put up in McDonald's restaurants and staff have attended a half-day course where they have learned recognised techniques for talking to people in crisis.
"The main thing is asking someone if they feel suicidal. People are often afraid to ask that – yet it could just lead to making someone safe," Cruickshank adds.
Kate Walker, a franchisee who employs more than 300 staff at four McDonald's restaurants in Lanarkshire, says mental-health issues were a priority for the company. "We are trying to get half a dozen people per store trained up. We have many young men among our staff. We think it is important to raise awareness not only of our key staff but to try and transfer that to our wide-ranging customers as well and make sure we connect in the most positive way we can."
Cruickshank says the partnership, launched last year, had been extremely successful – adding that McDonald's was an "invaluable" channel in destigmatising the taboo surrounding mental health and in tacking the suicide problem in a positive and relevant way.
Showcasing what people working in restaurants and taxi firms can do to help reduce suicide would encourage other companies to get involved, she says, thus helping reduce the stigma of mental health and the taboo surrounding suicide.
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