Goal
Investing in research, innovation, continuous improvement and training to deliver contemporary support after suicide.
Outcome
Alongside StandBy’s national expansion we have continued to develop new capabilities to better serve our communities’ needs.
StandBy coordinators are now available as single points of contact for support in every PHN area, with the workforce bringing skills from community services, education, social work and many other relevant disciplines.
We have further improved our training and workforce development programs including improvements in our support team training and a major revision of our staff database training using an interactive video-based method.
We completed a major new edition of our operational manual to reflect our expanded footprint and further refinement of the StandBy model.
Our community workshops were redeveloped to provide a more trauma-informed focus and using more person-centred language that better reflects StandBy’s non-clinical approach. We piloted YouMe~WhichWay, a new workshop and community development program, with Aboriginal communities in Queensland and the Northern Territory.
New resources were completed including a collaboration with Lifeline for venue and site managers where a public suicide has occurred. Other resources in development include a grief journal for adults, following the success of our children’s grief journal, and a culturally safe suicide bereavement resource for Aboriginal children and young people.
The NSW Post Suicide Support model sees us increasing the range and accessibility of services we provide including through specialised bereavement counselling via Jesuit Social Services, the development of a suicide bereavement peer workforce in collaboration with Roses in the Ocean, and further research into our service delivery with the University of New England.
Our newly national scope has enabled increased cooperation with other national organisations including the National Indigenous Postvention Service, headspace and Beyond Blue.
We have also established a new governance structure to reflect our national service delivery, which engages our providers and other partners at executive, management and service delivery levels.
Future Focus
We continue to develop new approaches in our training, workshops and resources, including greater customisation of StandBy’s support for key communities, and using new technologies to increase our accessibility.