Forces in Mind Trust future insights workshop report
Forces in Mind Trust (FiMT) partnered with Patrick Harris and James Alexander from Future Agenda to deliver a workshop to explore the key societal challenges and opportunities most likely to affect the Armed Forces community in the future and the freedoms and constraints impacting the environment of their support. The workshop built on the Lifting Our Sights: Beyond 2030 foresight report, which examined the impact of future trends on Service personnel and their families as they transition out of the military over the next ten years and beyond. The purpose of the event was to enable participants, and the organisations they represent, to recognise and explore their role and required potential action, to better deliver support for the Armed Forces community in the future. The intended outcomes included: • To have explored and identified the needs of the Armed Forces community in 2030 and beyond • To understand other’s and alternative perspectives • To identify specific areas of opportunity, challenge and action • To identify the implications of this exploration for attendee’s organisations The event bought together representatives from a range of sectors including central government, the devolved administrations, the Armed Forces, academia and the charity sector. This report provides a summary of the key findings from the day.
Abstract: The U.S. Army’s Ask, Care, Escort (ACE) suicide gatekeeper training has been the annual requirement for all personnel since 2009; however, this training has never been formally evaluated. The present study evaluated three updated versions of ACE: a training for Army leaders (ACE-Suicide Intervention), a training for basic combat trainees (ACE for Basic Combat Training and One Station Unit Training), and a standard training for all personnel (ACE for the Force). Self-report surveys measured pre- to posttraining changes in objective and subjective knowledge and stigma, as well as preparedness, self-efficacy, and likelihood to engage in gatekeeper behaviors. Implementation outcomes, such as training acceptability, suitability, and usability were also assessed. Across these evaluations, participants reported that knowledge and gatekeeper behaviors significantly improved from pre- to posttraining. Implementation metrics revealed a high degree of acceptability and relevance for all three ACE trainings. Overall, the findings of these evaluations suggest important changes in key suicide prevention outcomes following the ACE suite of trainings. Further longitudinal assessment is needed to establish the full effectiveness of gatekeeper interventions in the Army.