To address the elevated rates of youth suicide in the Murrumbidgee region the Office of Regional Youth funded a project undertaken by the Murrumbidgee Local Health District to develop a co-designed early intervention framework which is responsive to the needs and contexts of regional youth at risk of suicide.
The project drew upon the lived experiences of youth and parents/carers to identify what types of youth suicide early interventions align with their needs and how to most effectively connect young people to services. The project was innovative in its approach, training Aboriginal Health Staff to facilitate Yarning Circle Workshops to gather data which was analysed using a thematic analysis approach with the findings informing the framework design. The findings offered rich insight into the experiences and perspectives of regional youth and spanned four key themes which included; ‘Barriers to accessing support’, ‘Connected families as a protective factor’, ‘Impact of social media’ and ‘The need for education’.
A pilot phase enabled three new early intervention strategies to be trialled across the Murrumbidgee district within existing services which encompassed delivering education and creating resources on Adverse Childhood Experiences via schools, creating easier online access points to mental health and suicide prevention services with an accompanying education component and an initiative which trained health staff from non-mental health teams in suicide prevention via a one day workshop to equip staff working in regional and remote locations with the skills to identify suicidality and feel comfortable and confident to have initial conversations and facilitate connections to ongoing support.
The project has facilitated collaborations with fourteen external stakeholders which have strengthened the capacity of the Murrumbidgee Local Health District to provide services which are responsive to the needs of young people and work congruently with other service providers. Recommendations from the project will be used to inform the strategic direction MLHD suicide prevention services as they work towards more effectively connecting youth in regional spaces with the support that they need.