About Us
SPINZ, or Suicide Prevention Information New Zealand, is a non government, national information service providing high quality information and resources to promote safe and effective suicide prevention activities.
SPINZ is part of the Mental Health Foundation of New Zealand and has staff based in Auckland and Wellington.
Since 1999, we have been contracted by the Ministry of Health to support best-practice suicide prevention, through the provision of evidence-based information.
We do this mainly by information and resource collection, development and dissemination. See our pamplet Working to reduce suicide by providing high quality information
Collection
Over the years we have built an extensive collection of books, articles, documents, reports, pamphlets etc, which are housed in, and accessible from, the Mental Health Foundation's Resources and Information Service library in Auckland.
People seeking information to support their work or understanding of suicide prevention can access this material by telephone request, ordering through the foundation's Online Shop, or coming in to visit the Resource and Information Service. Most information is provided free of charge, with the exception of interloans, which can be requested through your local library.
We also have a considerable database of online resources searchable and, in many cases, downloadable from this website's Resource Finder.
Development
SPINZ specialises in developing resources for specific audiences, using the research and information from the main collection and a very detailed development process.
We produce information sheets that condense detailed research about specific areas of suicide prevention into concise formats.
SPINZ is also able to work with other organisations and services to support joint resource development.
Dissemination
Information is disseminated to a wide range of audiences through the use of this website, electronic alerts about new information, tailored presentations at conferences and key sector meetings and through the Resource and Information Service, mentioned above.
Another service SPINZ offers is providing feedback to priority audiences to support evidence-based suicide prevention planning and activities.
And, to reach a potentially wider audience, we have recently instigated the move to produce webcasts - a series of which is in the developmental stage, and that will be available on line in due course.
