Jo Smith OBE, Emeritus Professor at the University of Worcester and a prominent campaigner for the prevention of suicide in students, has been awarded an honorary doctorate from a fellow university.
Professor Jo Smith OBE receiving her Honorary Doctorate from Middlesex University
Professor Smith was given the honour by Middlesex University during its Graduation Week.
Professor Smith co-authored and edited a guide to help senior leaders in higher education respond sensitively and quickly after a student death by suspected suicide along with David Malpas, Middlesex University’s Director of Student Affairs.
She has worked in the NHS for 35 years, mainly in the field of adult mental health, and for the past 10 years at the University of Worcester where she has worked with universities around the Country, other educational organisations, and families to develop national guidance for the prevention of suicide of students. Most recently she has co-edited another book, Preventing and Responding to Student Suicide, with the Open University’s Dr Sharon Mallon.
Professor Smith was the Early Intervention in Psychosis (EIP) Lead for Herefordshire and Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust from 1999-2015 and Joint National EIP Programme Lead with the National Institute for Mental Health in England from 2004-2010. For the past seven years, she has also been a National Clinical Audit of Psychosis clinical adviser to the EIP Audit in England, Wales and Ireland, which aims to improve mental health services to people with psychosis.
During her career, she has been involved in the development and roll out of several key national policies relating to both EIP and Individual Placement and Support (IPS) employment interventions which help people with severe and enduring mental illness into employment.
A member of Zero Suicide International which brings together thought leaders and international organisations to share best practice in suicide prevention, Prof Smith is co-author of the Zero Suicide: An International Declaration for Better Healthcare, published in 2016, and has been a member of working groups to produce toolkits on suicide prevention and mental health for Universities UK and the charity PAPYRUS Prevention of Young Suicide.
Professor Smith was awarded an OBE in June 2023 for her work in student suicide prevention.