Cairns Suicide Prevention Community Action Plan: North Queensland PHN
Status: 2019-2020
Client: Northern Queensland PHN
Background
The purpose of the Cairns and Hinterland Suicide Prevention Community Action Plan (SPCAP) initiative was to lead the collaborative development of a community and sector-endorsed path forward for coordinated suicide prevention activities across the region.
The project was delivered through a partnership led by Beacon Strategies, supported by Roses in the Ocean and Black Dog Institute, and funded by Northern Queensland PHN and guided by the Community Advisory Group, comprised of representatives from NQPHN, CHHHS, service provider organisations and people with a lived experience of suicide.
Approach
The development of the Cairns and Hinterland SPCAP was quite the journey. Although experiencing a number of temporary disruptions (COVID-19 and an extreme weather event...), the end result has been more than worth it.
The process so far has been a rewarding one with many highlights to report, including:
Establishing the Cairns and Hinterland SPCAP Community Advisory Group in January 2020 and holding the inaugural meeting with representation from NQPHN, Cairns and Hinterland HHS, NGOs, First Nations specific organisations, Black Dog Institute and Roses in the Ocean.
At short notice, moving the first run of sector professional engagement workshops to be delivered remotely in April and May of 2020.
Temporarily pausing the project 6 months up until October 2020 due to COVID-19. Although this was a hard decision to make at the time, it was the right call to ensure resources were maintained to prioritise person-to-person and meaningful engagement at later stages of the project.
Rescheduling and delivering a round of consultation with sector professionals, engaging deeply with 51 stakeholders across a 5-day consultation loop, taking place in Cairns North, Atherton, Innisfail, Edmonton and Mossman in December 2020.
Rebooting the format of the Community Advisory Group by expanding the membership to new organisations and individuals (18 organisations in total) and refreshing the Terms of Reference in January 2021 to allow for deeper engagement relating to the development of the plan, rather than restricting involvement to advising on the direction of the project.
Leveraging the expertise of Black Dog Institute’s Suicide Data Analysis Report (SDAR) in February 2021 to improve visibility of local suicide data and trends, enabling a targeted approach to developing suicide prevention responses to meet the needs of those who need them most.
Roses in the Ocean engaging deeply with a total of 19 people in April 2021 who have a lived experience of suicide, defined as having experienced suicidal thoughts, experienced suicidal crisis or attempt, have cared for someone through a suicidal crisis, or have been bereaved through suicide, via engagement with the Cairns, Innisfail, Ravenshoe, Mareeba and Mossman communities. Although few in absolute terms, these deep and meaningful conversations have gone a long way to shape the Cairns and Hinterland SPCAP.
Roses in the Ocean delivering an LGBTIQAP+ specific engagement opportunity attended by 16 people in April 2021 for LGBTIQAP+ folk who work in the sector or who either have a lived experience of suicidal crisis or attempt, have cared for someone through a suicidal crisis, or have been bereaved through suicide
Between March 2021 and May 2021 hearing from the Cairns and Hinterland community through the submission of 155 written responses to the Cairns and Hinterland SPCAP Community Survey regarding ideas that could be implemented locally to strengthen suicide prevention activities across the region.
Engaging directly with a number of Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations (ACCHOs) across the region via direct conversations in May and June 2021.
Working intensively with the Cairns and Hinterland SPCAP Community Advisory Group via a series of 4 workshops from March 2021 to June 2021 to identify issues and priority actions, develop the vision and purpose of the plan, refine ideas and prioritise actions and endorse the final Cairns and Hinterland SPCAP.
Outcomes
The Cairns and Hinterland SPCAP is presented as two companion documents aimed at giving the right amount of detail for the respective audience.
Whole-of-region strategy: the purpose of this document is to set out the background, rationale, strategic drivers and high level priority actions aligned to Black Dog Institute’s LifeSpan framework. This document is designed to inform and guide implementation activities by providing a list of priority actions that should be prioritised for implementation for the whole-of-region steering committee or local implementation teams.
Whole-of-region actions register: the actions register lists all actions in this document in more detail, including a description, key stakeholders, readiness assessment and implementation steps. It contains all actions which may be implemented at a whole-of-region level or locally and can be used by implementation teams to understand actions and the initial steps which may help their implementation. It is not intended that all actions will be implemented simultaneously, but rather this document will assist the whole-of-region steering committee and local implementation teams to prioritise actions for implementation.
Implementation
Since the development of the Cairns and Hinterland SPCAP, the project has now moved into the implementation phase. Under a multi-tiered and collaborative governance arrangement, a collective impact approach is currently being utilised to ensure that the Cairns and Hinterland SPCAP is implemented in a structured and disciplined way that meets the needs of the region and local communities.
Beacon Strategies currently leads the delivery of the Cairns and Hinterland SPCAP by providing ‘backbone support’ to the Cairns and Hinterland SPCAP governance mechanisms, ensuring activities are coordinated and effective.
Head across to lifepromotionfnq.com.au to keep updated about progress toward implementing the actions outlined in the Cairns and Hinterland Suicide Prevention Community Action Plan.
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