Strong enough to care to stop suicides
17 March 2008 Media statement
Strong enough to care to stop suicides
There is no quick fix in suicide prevention, Associate Health Minister and Progressive Party leader Jim Anderton said today.
"It requires long term and co-ordinated action across society, and this is the message of a new Suicide Prevention Action Plan released today."
Jim Anderton said the New Zealand Suicide Prevention Action Plan 2008-2012 will guide our suicide prevention efforts over the next five years
The Action Plan provides evidence about what is most likely to effectively prevent suicide in New Zealand, as well as detailing what actions are required, who will do them, and by when. The Plan builds on the New Zealand Suicide Prevention Strategy 2006-2016, providing more detailed information about how the seven goals of the Strategy can be implemented.
Jim Anderton said that to effectively prevent suicide, all the different people and organisations involved need to understand how they fit into the big picture of suicide prevention.
"This Plan will assist researchers, policy makers, funders, community organisations and professional groups to work more closely together."
While it is important that communities are involved in and committed to suicide prevention, it is also essential that all activities are safe and guided by evidence, he said.
"That is why considerable effort has been put into producing The Evidence for Action, which ensures the actions in the companion document The Summary for Action are evidence-based.
"We are already fortunate in New Zealand to have people with a range of expertise who are committed to suicide prevention. And we have a variety of initiatives happening right now and contributing to suicide prevention across the country.
"A few of these are being described at today's launch - programmes to promote mental health in schools, to provide information and support for people experiencing depression, to reduce the risk of suicide for children and young people in care, and to improve the care of people who have made suicide attempts."
"It is encouraging to know that New Zealand's suicide rate has reduced by about 19 percent since the late 1990s, but there are still too many New Zealanders taking their own lives and still much more we need to do. I believe this Action Plan will assist us all to strengthen the work we are already doing and to set priorities for future actions to prevent suicide."
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Information about suicide prevention can be found by contacting SPINZ (www.spinz.org.nz) or by looking at the Ministry of Health website (www.moh.govt.nz/suicideprevention).
There is evidence that some types of reporting of suicide can result in an increase in suicides. Please refer to the Ministry of Health booklet Suicide and The Media:The Reporting and Portrayal of Suicide in the Media. A Resource (www.moh.govt.nz/suicideprevention).
If you are concerned about someone who may be suicidal or is very distressed, there are a number of services you can approach. They include your primary health care provider or general practitioner (GP), community mental health service, Maori community health service and counselling services such as school counsellors or family counsellors.
Some useful
phone numbers: Lifeline - 0800 111 777
Samaritans - 0800 726 666
Youthline - 0800 376 633
For information about
depression: Depression Helpline - 0800 111 757
www.depression.org.nz
Online support for young people: The Lowdown - www.thelowdown.co.nz
In an emergency,
anyone seriously concerned about an individual's immediate
safety should remain with him or her until appropriate
support arrives, remove any obvious means of suicide,
contact the nearest hospital or psychiatric emergency
services/ mental health crisis assessment team.
Questions and Answers:
What will the Action Plan do? Why do we need an Action Plan?
The Action Plan
translates the goals of the New Zealand Suicide Prevention
Action Plan 2006-2016 into action. It outlines how the
Strategy will be implemented over the next five years.
It will guide government and non-government agencies
involved in planning, funding and delivery of suicide
prevention initiatives.
The Action Plan will help ensure
that suicide prevention initiatives are well planned and
co-ordinated, and are evidence-based, safe and effective.
Why are there two documents?
The Action Plan is made
up of two companion documents, which should be read
together.
The Summary for Action provides detail about
the actions, including who will do them and by when.
The
Evidence for Action provides detail about the evidence and
rationale informing the actions. In this way, actions are
based on sound evidence, and are more likely to be safe and
effective.
Who is responsible for implementing the Action Plan?
The Ministry of Health is the lead government
agency for suicide prevention, and is responsible for
co-ordinating the implementation of the Action Plan. The
Ministry is supported by the Inter Agency Committee on
Suicide Prevention, which reports to the Ministerial
Committee on Suicide Prevention.
The Action Plan
outlines which agencies are responsible for leading the
implementation of specific actions.
A wide range of
organisations and individuals are involved in suicide
prevention. These include: government agencies,
non-government organisations, policy advisors, service
planners, service providers, researchers, professional
groups and communities.
Is there new money to support this Action Plan?
In 2007 $23 million over four years of
new funding was allocated specifically for suicide
prevention initiatives.
In addition to this, many
initiatives that contribute to suicide prevention are not
called "suicide prevention programmes" but are part of the
core work of a range of government agencies and are part of
baseline funding. For example, it's hard to separate out
suicide prevention funding from a lot of general mental
health service funding.
What are the goals of the New Zealand Suicide Prevention Strategy?
The goals of the
Strategy are to:
* promote mental health and well-being,
and prevent mental health problems;
* improve the care
of people who are experiencing mental disorders associated
with suicidal behaviour;
* improve the care of people
who make non-fatal suicide attempts;
* reduce access to
the means of suicide;
* promote the safe reporting and
portrayal of suicidal behaviour by the media;
* support
families/whanau, friends and others affected by a suicide or
suicide attempt; and
* expand the evidence about the
rates, causes and effective interventions.
How can
suicide be prevented?
Suicide is complex and its
prevention requires a range of initiatives across different
settings. Prevention initiatives are generally aimed at
reducing risk factors, promoting protective factors and
improving service provision.
Some examples of current
suicide prevention initiatives are:
* raising
awareness about depression and encouraging help-seeking
* improving the care and follow-up of people who have
made a suicide attempt
* reducing the risk of suicide
for at risk children and young people
* supporting
families, friends and communities following a suicide
*
professional development for teachers to improve the
mental health of the whole school
* improving
co-ordination of suicide prevention activities within
district health board regions
* providing
information about suicide and suicide prevention
*
Maori community development for
suicide prevention
*
skills-based training in suicide
intervention.
ENDS