Recognising and responding to suicidality
Sometimes friends, family, colleagues, even a professional connection can be the first to see that there is something wrong. We helped more than 1300 community members know what to do.
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Knowing how to recognise and respond if someone is having thoughts of suicide is difficult. But the chances you may have to do this one day are high. Having the right skills could help keep someone safe and connect them to care.
Anyone can be impacted by suicide. The south east region of Melbourne is disproportionately impacted by suicide, particularly the local councils of Dandenong, Casey, Cardinia, Frankston and Mornington Peninsula. This is why SEMPHN partnered with LivingWorks Australia to offer Suicide First Aid training across the community.
Training was available to anyone with connections to the councils (including the general public) to prepare participants to recognise and respond to the signs of suicide. The training was delivered in partnership with
LivingWorks Australia and the Victorian Department of Health, as part of the Suicide Prevention Place-based Trials.
The LivingWorks START program is a 60-90 minute online suicide first aid course. It gives attendees the skills to recognise when someone is at risk, identify red flags, help them know how to speak to someone about suicide, and then support them to seek the professional help they may need.
Usually a $585 workshop, the program was fully funded by SEMPHN.
The LivingWorks training was rolled out as part of the Suicide Prevention Place-based Trials, a Victorian Department of Health initiative in partnership with Primary Health Networks, to implement community-driven, place-based approaches to preventing suicide.
LivingWorks Australia’s Victorian state training manager Renee Tsatsis said it was crucial to be able to teach suicide first aid skills to youth workers in particular.
“Last time we ran local training with youth workers, one person in the group said to me, ‘I wish I’d learnt this training 10 years ago’,” she said.
“Youth workers do incredibly important work with young people who are often dealing with many complexities in their life.
“Learning suicide first aid skills means knowing how to start conversations about suicide and knowing how to keep someone safe when they say they are not OK.”
LivingWorks START first aid program delivery across the region
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When someone dies due to suicide, the effect on those touched by it – families, friends, communities – is immediate and traumatic.
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