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

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

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