A reflection on my Public Health Placement at Beacon Strategies
The following was authored by our student placement Laura Schipper, who joined us during her final semester of her Masters of Public Health in March-June 2022.
I had the opportunity to partner with Beacon Strategies for placement in my final semester of a Master of Public Health through the UQ School of Public Health. This reflection is about my experience working on suicide prevention strategies.
Working on the Suicide Prevention Care Pathway has solidified my passion for advocating to improve mental health services in remote communities and throughout Australia. The latest Productivity Commission estimated the burden of mental health to be a staggering $1.3 billion each year, from healthcare-related costs to direct and indirect costs, such as lost productivity. Sadly, annual suicides in the Cairns and Hinterland region are higher than both the state and the national average with a disproportionate number of male (69%) and Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islanders (15%) affected. An estimated 16.4 people in 100,000 are lost to suicide in the region, compared to 14.4 per 100,000 in Queensland and 10.9 per 100,000 Australia-wide.
“... the right care, in the right place, at the right time when they or someone they care about are at risk of suicide, following a suicide attempt or are bereaved by suicide”
Developing a centralised resource of suicide prevention services involved days of meticulous data collection. It was a difficult task to find services that were specific to the Cairns and Hinterland region as most were based in South East Queensland. Providing healthcare to rural and remote areas is challenging with difficulties in attracting and retaining health workers, often individuals have to travel huge distances to access specialist healthcare. This project opened my eyes to the lack of basic mental healthcare services in Far North Queensland. More alarming is the very few suicide prevention services available for a region that has the highest rate of suicide in Australia.
My first day at Beacon, I remember feeling a bit apprehensive of working in a small office having been in a busy hospital department for years. It took me a few weeks to adjust to the routine of making my own plans, and it was a strange and surreal experience having nobody to watch over my shoulder constantly. Their concept of sprints, where work is done at small manageable intervals, really helped me define what a good time management approach looks like. I also got to pick up some graphic and web design skills, creating media content for the final website. While eating a strange lychee-flavoured Japanese pastry after my final presentation, I was proud to think I might be making a small contribution to someone's life, somewhere. It wasn't until I walked downstairs for the final time that it hit me - I was going to miss working here.
Looking forward, I'm keen to be more involved with mental health and taking a much-needed vacation. This internship has highlighted how much work is still needed to provide adequate mental health services in Australia. While a Master of Public Health has laid the groundwork to informing health policy and leading health services reform, this project has really sparked my passion to improve access to mental health services, especially for rural and remote communities. I am truly grateful for the semester I spent with Beacon in broadening my mind, growing personally and professionally, and being able to contribute to such an admirable organization. I hope you can join me in advocating for better mental health inclusion in our healthcare system.
Originally published on LinkedIn, click here to view.
