The need for shift in approach to suicide prevention in Australia

This article reviews the current approach to suicide prevention in Australia, which is focused on medical model and argues the need for shifting the approach to social model. The new situational approach should focus on social determinants and consider the risk factors such as aboriginality, unemployment, financial distress and relationship breakdown alongside metal illness. The new approach has been successful in many local interventions. For example, The Shed in Mt Druitt, Sydney is partnering with twenty-eight local organisations to address the social determinants to reduce the suicide rate

Impact of COVID-19 restrictions on men's mental health services in Australia

Introduction: Mental health services in Australia have faced significant challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic in adopting the new changes to reach service users. The rapid changes in the situation and surge in the number of people seeking help or in crisis have led services to use many strategies which they would not have considered in normal situations. The services working with men were especially experiencing the difficulty in fulfilling the needs of their clients as the evidence shows that Australian men’s help seeking behaviour is lower than women. Materials and Methods: A survey was conducted online to ascertain the level of impact on their services, their client groups and the lessons learned during online service delivery. The survey was conducted by Australian Men’s Health Forum with 20 questions, both with multiple choice and narrative answer options.  Results: In total, 53 male-specific services have responded. 81% made changes to their services; 43% enabled their staff and volunteers to work from home; 84% adopted strategies to conduct their meeting virtually with clients. Conclusion: Most services made significant changes such as phone/video counselling, but felt that this cannot be the norm post-pandemic as it lacks the empathic human touch to service delivery. Innovative strategies were developed to reach men living in remote/rural areas with no cost or travel time. However, there are many concerns about vulnerable groups such as older adults, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders and men living in remote areas, who have limited access to electronic devices and reliable internet access. Implications: These findings have implications for reorienting frontline health services, particularly in times of widespread crisis when service delivery models need to change. There is, therefore, a direct consequence for building healthy public policy in relation to the health of men and boys from marginalised/vulnerable groups that incorporates healthy environments and positive social connections

Mates in Manufacturing Suicide Awareness Pilot Program Final Evaluation Report

This report incorporates the qualitative evaluation of the implementation of the MATES in Manufacturing Pilot Suicide Prevention Program, as funded by SIRA, and delivered in conjunction with Australian Manufacturing Workers Union and MATES in construction. The research sought to examine the extent to which a peer-to-peer suicide prevention project could be translated from the Construction industry across to the Manufacturing industry, and whether the program would enhance mental health literacy, reduced stigma around mental health and suicide, increase the different dimensions of helping behaviours (help-seeking, help-offering and help-acceptance), increase in social connections in the workplace, and catalyse a shift in industry culture towards more mentally healthy work environments

Alternative Approaches for Health, Mental Wellbeing and Suicide Prevention for Boys and Young Men

There is considerable current policy debate and public discourse about the nature of health, wellbeing and suicide in boys and young men. Unfortunately, little of the discussion seems to be founded on established models of best practice for working with young males in this space. Further, arguments proffered, and decisions made regularly tend to omit the voice of young males from the process. For optimal health outcomes and suicide prevention to be achieved for young males and subsequently across their whole lifespan, substantial evidence needs to be gathered and considered in establishing benchmarks for policy, funding, and service delivery. The article will explore some of the established literature that covers this area, as well as emerging research that is adding to current knowledge as the article looks at the emerging non-medial alternative approaches such as mentoring as an early intervention, the impact of social determinants of health and collaborative group-based activities and also a change in media content from highlighting hegemonic/toxic masculinity to more positive emotional stories of men showing a resilient attitude to life’s problems.  The article discuses a growing need to move away from medical approaches especially in the case of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder that is 3-9 times more prevalent amongst young boys who are diagnosed with it than girls. There is a need to find a more balanced physical/medical health and mental/emotional wellbeing approach for young men to deal with the transition from boyhood to manhood.  &nbsp

Situational approach to suicide prevention among Australian males : the role of unemployment

This article contends that the prevention of suicide, particularly in Australia, needs to be re-imagined, by expanding a medical/crisis response to take into account social factors that contribute to the incidence of suicide and suicidal ideation. The particular area of unemployment/underemployment provides one such example of the social determinants of suicide, and argues that the nuances of gender and Aboriginality need also to be accounted for in research and program delivery. This analysis has been dubbed the ‘Situational Approach to Suicide Prevention’

[In Press] Learning about social work research through field placements as a stepping stone to a career in academia

Field placement is a milestone in every student's journey towards degree completion. The experience influences career choices, professional identities and emergent practices in the dynamic social work field. While there is a growing body of knowledge regarding this development, as well as research-as-placement for students, there remains a paucity of documentation on what this experience is like, especially regarding the outcomes for students post-placement. To address the gap our team of authors offer a reflective and reflexive autoethnographic account of our experiences as social work students (and supervisor) undertaking research field placements. Our aim is to offer readers a critical perspective of research-as-placement that highlights the potential to enhance academic aspirations post-placement. We promote the benefits for students when supervised/mentored by a social work academic, particularly the personal and professional opportunities that come from the experience that help students locate placement success, research skills development and an academic career pathway. A key finding is the need for further research regarding the experience of students requiring ready-made skills in self-directed and self-paced learning. Ultimately, through this work we propose that research-as-placement creates avenues to build symbolic and social capital in the lives of students and ultimately enrich their social work education