Suicide Prevention Training Experiences, Needs and Perceptions among Catholic Clergy in Nigeria

Abstract

Our study draws attention to an important but underexplored resource for suicide prevention in low-and middle-income countries: faith leaders, who function as highly accessible community leaders.By examining Nigerian clergy's training experiences, capacity needs, and perspectives on suicide prevention, we found strong willingness among clergy to support individuals at risk, despite limited formal training and low awareness of national suicide prevention policies.These findings support the importance of integrating clergy into national and community-level suicide prevention strategies.Targeted structured training to enhance clergy capacity could strengthen early detection, referral systems, and public mental health outreach, while task-sharing models that engage faith leaders may help expand suicide prevention efforts in resource-constrained settings.