International Organization for Migration Iraq Mental and Psychosocial Support Programme Suicide Prevention Activities

Abstract. The International Association for Suicide Prevention created a Task Force on Suicide in Prisons to better disseminate the information in this domain. One of its objectives was to summarize suicide-prevention activities in the prison systems. This study of the Task Force uncovered many differences between countries, although mental health professionals remain central in all suicide prevention activities. Inmate peer-support and correctional officers also play critical roles in suicide prevention but there is great variation in the involvement of outside community workers. These differences could be explained by the availability of resources, by the structure of the correctional and community services, but mainly by the different paradigms about suicide prevention. While there is a common and traditional paradigm that suicide prevention services are mainly offered to individuals by mental health services, correctional systems differ in the way they include (or not) other partners of suicide prevention: correctional officers, other employees, peer inmates, chaplains/priests, and community workers. Circumstances, history, and national cultures may explain such diversity but they might also depend on the basic way we think about suicide prevention at both individual and environmental levels.

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Australia's National Suicide Prevention Strategy: the next chapter

Australian Health Review ◽

10.1071/ah060271 ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 30 (3) ◽

pp. 271 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Jo Robinson ◽

Patrick McGorry ◽

Meredith G Harris ◽

Jane Pirkis ◽

Philip Burgess ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mental Illness ◽

High Risk ◽

Suicide Prevention ◽

Risk Groups ◽

Evidence Base ◽

Prevention Strategy ◽

People With Mental Illness ◽

Prevention Activities ◽

The Impact

Australia?s National Suicide Prevention Strategy (NSPS) is about to move into a new funding phase. In this context this paper considers the emphasis of the NSPS since its inception in 1999. Certain high-risk groups (particularly people with mental illness and people who have selfharmed) have been relatively neglected, and some promising approaches (particularly selective and indicated interventions) have been under-emphasised. This balance should be redressed and the opportunity should be taken to build the evidence-base regarding suicide prevention. Such steps have the potential to maximise the impact of suicide prevention activities in Australia.

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Lessons Learned from Mental Health Enhancement and Suicide Prevention Activities in the Veterans Health Administration

American Journal of Public Health ◽

10.2105/ajph.2011.300582 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 102 (S1) ◽

pp. S14-S16 ◽

Cited By ~ 22

Author(s):

Ira Katz

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Suicide Prevention ◽

Veterans Health Administration ◽

Lessons Learned ◽

Veterans Health ◽

Health Administration ◽

Prevention Activities

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Lessons Learned from Mental Health Enhancement and Suicide Prevention Activities in the Veterans Health Administration

Yearbook of Psychiatry and Applied Mental Health ◽

10.1016/j.ypsy.2012.07.070 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 2013 ◽

pp. 228-230

Author(s):

J.A. Talbott

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Suicide Prevention ◽

Veterans Health Administration ◽

Lessons Learned ◽

Veterans Health ◽

Health Administration ◽

Prevention Activities

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How is Participating in Suicide Prevention Activities Experienced by Those with Lived and Living Experiences of Suicide in Australia? A Qualitative Study

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph17134635 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 17 (13) ◽

pp. 4635

Author(s):

Sarah Wayland ◽

Kathy McKay ◽

Myfanwy Maple

Keyword(s):

Qualitative Study ◽

Lived Experience ◽

Suicide Prevention ◽

Policy Development ◽

Best Practice ◽

Prevention Research ◽

Emotional Labour ◽

Best Practice Guidelines ◽

Prevention Activities ◽

The Impact

People with a lived experience of suicide are commonly included within suicide prevention research. This includes participation in conferences, policy development, research and other activities. Yet little is known about the impact on the person in the long term of regularly sharing one’s experience to different audiences and, in some cases, to a schedule not of your choosing. This qualitative study asked twenty people to share their reflections of being lived experience representatives within suicide prevention. Participants varied in the length of time they had been sharing their stories, and how they shared with different audiences. These narratives were thematically analysed within a reflective framework, including field notes. Four broad themes were noted that highlighted participants’ recommendations as to how the lived experience speaker training could grow alongside suicide prevention activities to facilitate safe activities that include a shared understanding of the expected outcome from participation. The environment for people with lived experience of suicide to tell their stories already exists, meaning that the suicide prevention sector needs to move quickly to ensure people understand the variety of spaces where lived experience needs to be incorporated, evaluated and better supported. When lived experience is a valued inclusion in the creation of effective and appropriate suicide prevention research and interventions, those who share their experience must be valued and supported in a way that reflects this. This study recommends strategies to practically and emotionally support speakers, including ways to ensure debriefing and support, which can enhance the longevity of the speakers in the suicide prevention space by valuing the practical and emotional labour required to be suicide prevention representatives, with an outcome recommendation for best practice guidelines for those who engage people with lived experience in suicide prevention activities.

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The evaluation of suicide prevention activities: State of the art

The World Journal of Biological Psychiatry ◽

10.1080/15622970310029913 ◽

2003 ◽

Vol 4 (4) ◽

pp. 156-165 ◽

Cited By ~ 25

Author(s):

David Althaus ◽

Ulrich Hegerl

Keyword(s):

Suicide Prevention ◽

State Of The Art ◽

Prevention Activities

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A decision support tool to inform local suicide prevention activity in Greater Western Sydney (Australia)

Australian & New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry ◽

10.1177/0004867418767315 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 52 (10) ◽

pp. 983-993 ◽

Cited By ~ 14

Author(s):

Andrew Page ◽

Jo-An Atkinson ◽

William Campos ◽

Mark Heffernan ◽

Shahana Ferdousi ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Decision Support ◽

Suicide Prevention ◽

Attempted Suicide ◽

Decision Support Tool ◽

Support Tool ◽

Health Network ◽

Primary Health ◽

Prevention Activities ◽

Sydney Australia

Objectives: This study describes the development of a decision support tool to identify the combination of suicide prevention activities and service priorities likely to deliver the greatest reductions in suicidal behaviour in Western Sydney (Australia) over the period 2018–2028. Methods: A dynamic simulation model for the WentWest – Western Sydney Primary Health Network population-catchment was developed in partnership with primary health network stakeholders based on defined pathways to mental health care and suicidal behaviour, and which represented the current incidence of suicide and attempted suicide in Western Sydney. A series of scenarios relating to potential suicide prevention activities and service priorities identified by primary health network stakeholders were investigated to identify the combination of interventions associated with the largest reductions in the forecast number of attempted suicide and suicide cases for a 10-year follow-up period. Results: The largest number of cases averted for both suicide and attempted suicide was associated with (1) post-suicide attempt assertive aftercare (6.1% for both attempted suicide and suicide), (2) improved community support and reductions in psychological distress in the community (5.1% for attempted suicide and 14.8% for suicide), and (3) reductions in the proportion of those lost to services following a mental health service contact (10.5% for both attempted suicide and suicide). In combination, these interventions were forecast to avert approximately 29.7% of attempted suicides and 37.1% of suicides in the primary health network catchment over the 10-year period. Conclusion: This study demonstrates the utility of dynamic simulation models, co-designed with multi-disciplinary stakeholder groups, to capture and analyse complex mental health and suicide prevention regional planning problems. The model can be used by WentWest – Western Sydney Primary Health Network as a decision support tool to guide the commissioning of future service activity, and more efficiently frame the monitoring and evaluation of interventions as they are implemented in Western Sydney.

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