Notice to the Public and to Certified QPR Instructors

QPR is a specific, tested, researched, propriety, copyrighted, trademarked and widely taught Gatekeeper training program for suicide prevention. A QPR training program ranges from 1 to 3 hours and consists of three essential educational requirements:

• QPR can only be taught by active Certified QPR Instructors trained and licensed by the QPR institute. Unlicensed use of the QPR program is prohibited by law and violators are subject to a minimum fine of $100,000 dollars.
• QPR training is delivered according to defined program standard, which content invariably includes a minimum of 21 QPR training slides. Alterations in, or additions to, the core 21-slide QPR program must be approved by the QPR Institute.
• Each person, or one person per family, trained in QPR must receive a printed QPR booklet and card from the Licensed Instructor as part of the training program. Certified QPR Instructors who do not provide these booklets and cards are in violation of their licensing agreement and automatically decertified by the QPR Institute.

Background
Certified QPR Instructors are provided a full compliment of training materials and a license to teach QPR at the end of their training, including QPR booklets and cards and a license to purchase additional copies for distribution to those they train. Their license strictly forbids the unauthorized use of any of copyrighted materials owned by the QPR Institute Inc., or any unapproved additions or subtractions from the core QPR curriculum. Moreover, Certified QPR Instructors are obliged by their licensing agreement to report any copyright violations to the QPR Institute.

Notice to the Public
The QPR Institute wishes the public to understand that it is very concerned that those teaching the QPR program are properly trained, licensed, and enjoy active status with the QPR Institute. If you have questions about a Trainer, please contact our office for confirmation of credentials. Our Certified QPR Instructors receive frequent updates on research, statistics, and breaking information and technical support vital to the successful teaching of the Gatekeeper function as part of the National Strategy for Suicide Prevention.

We also wish the public to know that unapproved and unlicensed use of the QPR program and its copyrighted materials may be perceived by others as permission granted by the QPR institute to copy or distribute these materials freely, when this is not the case. Also, the public may assume there is an affiliation between the QPR Institute and an unlicensed or inactive trainer when no such affiliation exists.

Notice to Certified QPR Instructors
Given that suicide prevention education has struggled for years to achieve some fidelity in its educational content and delivery of that content to the public so that outcome studies have at least some chance of providing scientific evidence of effectiveness, we remind our Instructors to honor their licensing agreements and respect the integrity, delivery, and configuration of the core, 21 QPR slides and that, should any alterations in the program be made, these alterations be forwarded to us for review and approval.

We also must note that if any QPR Institute copyrighted materials have been used, adopted or adapted into other non-QPR Gatekeeper training programs, by you or your organization without specific written permission, you are in violation of your licensing agreement and federal copyright law.

The QPR Institute has invested 13 years of research and development in its theory-based, standardized Gatekeeper training program and has, in the past, denied other individuals and organizations the right to alter or adapt our materials without oversight and approval, as such approvals lead to derivative works unsupported by the evidence-based outcome research which the original QPR method currently enjoys.

While there are several Gatekeeper training programs available, the QPR protocol and program has been studied in detail by several major universities in the United States and abroad, and a major random clinical trials investigation funded by the National Institutes of Mental Health and the State of Georgia has recently been completed. The success of the QPR Gatekeeper program has been measured and quantified and studies show that the QPR method is well received, falls in the midrange of evidence-based practices, and appears to be safe and effective with more than 638,000 persons trained thus far.

This does not mean that derivations of the QPR are equally effective. Other Gatekeeper training programs trying to mimic QPR may create the impression that there is an affiliation with the QPR protocol, and that the new or derivative program is effective, when it may not be.

Except as permitted by your licensing agreement, we ask that you retain control of all copyrighted materials and refrain from sharing these materials with others who may assume that once they are in possession of the program content and slides, they are qualified to teach QPR.

Thank you for your understanding and participation in suicide prevention.

The Staff and Faculty of the QPR Institute