Australian scientists are developing a new smartphone app to stop the escalating rate of indigenous youth suicide.
The app will facilitate referral of the young person to local liaison officers and other government or non-government support agencies.
"We will design, develop and distribute an Apple iPhone and Android smartphone app through iTunes and Google's android market to support the implementation of the gatekeeper training," said Dr Maree Toombs, a University of Queensland School of Medicine researcher.
A community-led training programme will run along side the app, linking health providers, community members, peers, school leaders and sporting mentors as gatekeepers, the 'Brisbane Times' reported.
The project combines gatekeeper training with the use of a smartphone app to deliver sustained improvements in the knowledge, skills, attitudes, confidence and behaviour of gatekeepers who are likely to encounter Aboriginal youth at risk of self-harm and suicide.
Toombs said the project is important because Queensland has the highest rates of suicide in the country, with rates among Indigenous youth double that of the general population aged 15-44, the report said.
