The purpose of this presentation is to give the audience a real and practical understanding of just how it is that evidence-based suicide prevention can be successfully implemented in high risk, low socio -economic and complex trauma effected rural communities.
Kempsey was selected as one of the north-coast nsw trial sites for Lifespan due to our higher than average suicide per population rate. With young people and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People largely represented in these statistics - any death within the community impacts every part of community.
What we have learned through the past 4 years is that evidence-based suicide prevention can be most successfully and sustainably implemented in regional and remote communities by ensuring that strategies, actions, and decisions are led and owned by the community at a local level. Our program - Kempsey Community Suicide Prevention - has been recognised for excelling in a ‘ground up approach’ to community-based suicide prevention,
Our presentation will cover the following topics:
• How to identify and increase skills of people in community who are most likely to be in contact with those at risk of suicide to intervene by identifying, recognising, and responding to suicidal signs and crisis, and assisting them to seek the most appropriate help
• Addressing the needs and contributing to the healing of complex trauma and specific localised social factors for Priority populations and vulnerable people through holistic and cultural programs that enable individuals to identify and work through underlying, generational and environmental determinants to decrease the risk factors of suicide thoughts, ideation, attempts and death
• Improving local awareness and understanding of, and confidence in resources, services, pathways, and conversations related to suicide by providing opportunities to learn and take a more active role in prevention at a community level