Background: Suicide postvention supports are key to overall efforts to reduce individual and community impacts of suicide. These supports are particularly important in rural areas, where the impacts may be more deeply felt due to the close-knit nature of smaller rural communities and limited availability of traditional support services. Of the research in postvention support there is limited understanding of the experience and needs of rural Australians impacted by suicide bereavement.
Aims: We aimed to examine the perceptions of individuals bereaved by suicide and service providers, concerning access to postvention support services, in rural Northern Tasmania, Australia.
Method: This qualitative study involved semi-structured interviews with people with lived experience (n=5) and focus groups with postvention service providers (n=8) from Northern Tasmania. Thematic analysis was undertaken.
Results: Six main themes were identified: The Role of Peer Support; Suicide is Different; Support Access; Helpful Support; Barriers to Accessing Formal Support; and Rural Community Implications.
Limitations: The project was limited by a relatively small sample size, due in part to the collection of data during COVID-19 lockdowns.
Conclusions: A key finding was a strong need for peer support. Rural Tasmanians bereaved by suicide want support from, but have limited access to, ‘someone who understands’ suicide bereavement. Stigma was also a predominant in rural communities. Future research should examine the potential for peer support models to be adapted to the rural context involving community members with lived experience. Future research should also examine how to better prepare health professionals to provide postvention support in rural areas.