Issue 6
| SPINZ news Winter 2006 |
Contents
- New Zealand All Ages Suicide Prevention Strategy Launched
- 2006 SPINZ Symposium
- National Directory
- "No tyranny of silence around suicide"
- NZ Resources and Research
- International Resources and Research
- Obtaining Resources
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New Zealand All Ages Suicide Prevention Strategy Launched
"cover description: The pÄua shell represents the protective structure that nurtures and supports the individual, the family/whÄnau and the community"
Associate Health Minister, Hon. Jim Anderton launched a new suicide prevention strategy on June 29. The strategy takes an all ages approach to addressing suicide in New Zealand. The New Zealand Suicide Prevention Strategy 2006-2016 aims to make sure suicide levels continue declining by taking a broader approach instead of solely targeting youth.
Around 500 New Zealanders die by suicide each year and many more attempt to take their life. The costs of suicide to society are high - the direct economic costs are significant, but pale in comparison to the emotional costs to family, whÄnau and friends of those who take their lives or display suicidal behaviour.
The New Zealand Suicide Prevention Strategy 2006-2016 replaces the New Zealand Youth Suicide Prevention Strategy which focused on the 15-24 age group. Although youth remain a high risk group, around 80 per cent of people who die by suicide are 25 or older. The new strategy represents an all-ages approach to suicide prevention and will build on the good work achieved by the youth suicide prevention strategy.
Suicidal behaviour is an issue that impacts on the whole of society, and thus requires a collaborative approach to prevent it. This includes both leadership and co-ordination across Government agencies and the active involvement of local communities. This is one of the premises of the strategy. It provides a framework to help us understand how all the various activities across the range of sectors fit together to prevent suicide, and will guide our efforts nationally over the next 10 years. It will also identify where new initiatives are needed.
The new strategy will be followed by the development of two separate five year multi-sectorial action plans that will provide more detail on how the strategy will be implemented, by whom and when. Work on the first action plan is currently underway.
Copies of the new strategy are available from SPINZ and are also online at www.moh.govt.nz/suicideprevention
-Ministry of Health
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2006 SPINZ Symposium
The Fourth National Suicide Prevention Symposium 'Understanding Suicidal Behaviour - update your knowledge and practice' will be held 28th and 29th November 2006 in Dunedin.
Hosted by SPINZ (part of the Mental Health Foundation) in collaboration with Injury Prevention Research Unit (Otago University) and Public Health South. Registration available from 1st August 2006
Watch the SPINZ website for updates on presenters and a call for abstracts.
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Family & Community Services, Ministry of Social Development, has re-launched its National Directory of Social Service Providers. The National Directory can be accessed at:
www.familyservices.govt.nz/info-for-families/ - this address connects people to the National Directory, an extensive database including organisation contact details and a brief description of services. It is also home to FamilyWeb, which links to other websites grouped under topics of interest to families.
The National Directory, has been made more user-friendly with the introduction of a number of improved features including a map which initiates a search for services.
For service providers there is now a single form to update your organisation's details, which can be completed online and emailed to Family and Community Services for action.
As a community or government organisation you will find the Information for Families page useful when you want to refer clients, or if you would like to give them more information about an issue.
Family and Community Services provide other useful resources and information on their website including SKIP (Strategies with Kids Information for Parents) resources.
-Ministry of Social Development
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"No tyranny of silence around suicide"
Associate Health Minister, the Hon Jim Anderton has spoken out in the ongoing media debate about media reporting of suicide. He issued a media release 7 June "No tyranny of silence around suicide" – see link above, and in a letter to the editors of the Hawke's Bay Today and Manawatu Standard, the Minister said:
"The media can report and do report on suicide, as your editorial attests. The legislative restrictions that are in place are only around reporting the details, such as the method of individual suicides, without the authority of the coroner. Additionally, the coroner has considerable discretion to decide how much detail should be in the public domain if they believe it is in the public interest.
The reason this restriction is in place is because there is a large body of international research showing a link between media coverage of suicide and a subsequent increase in suicides and suicide attempts and it would be irresponsible to dismiss this evidence. Some dispute this research and the weight that should be given to it but in this situation, where lives are at stake, one would have thought a responsible media would happily err on the side of caution.
I recognise that the media wants to and should report in the public interest. The constraints in place are no more than any responsible society would embrace"
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Men and Depression brochure is a new resource from the Mental Health Foundation of NZ. Available free from info@mentalhealth.org.nz or ph 09 300 7030. |
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Youth2000 Health Profile of Young Asian New Zealanders has been released (56 pages) Some of the key findings: Chinese students felt more unsafe at school and were less likely to see a doctor. "Mental health is a major health issue for young "Asian" New Zealanders. Many report significant depressive symptoms and anxiety, with females and Indian young people particularly vulnerable. Young Indian New Zealanders report higher prevalence of depression than their NZ European peers. Some of these young "Asian" New Zealanders report suicidal thoughts." Youth2007 Survey |
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IPnews – new bi monthly community safety and injury e-newsletter
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The New Zealand Injury Prevention Strategy (NZIPS) Secretariat, the Injury Network Aotearoa New Zealand (IPNANZ), the Safe Communities Foundation New Zealand (SCFNZ) and Sandra James are collaborating in the production of a bi-monthly e-newsletter to be called IPnews – your bi monthly community safety and injury e-newsletter. The purpose of this newsletter is to disseminate information to the injury prevention sector and those interested in community safety and injury prevention. All information/news items to be forwarded to: Jacqui Fill j.fill@safecommunioties.org.nz. |
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Papers and presentations which have been provided by the speakers from the Fourth National Mental Health Promotion Hui 2006 in Palmerston North can be downloaded at the Mental Health Foundation website including:
- The National Depression Initiative presented by Maria Cotter, Ministry of Health
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Newly available from skylight is After a Suicide: a workbook for grieving kids (from The Dougy Centre, Portland, USA). An activity based workbook for children 6–12 years old who have been impacted by a suicide. In bright colours, and with an interesting and varied format, it covers many of the unique aspects of suicide bereavement, including feelings and thoughts, telling others, scary thoughts and worries, going back to school, remembering and ways to manage grief. $24.95 plus p&p. |
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Curtis, C. (2006). Sexual abuse and subsequent suicidal behaviour: exacerbating factors and implications for recovery. Journal of Child Sexual Abuse, 15(2), 1-21.
Cate Curtis, University of Waikato.
"Suicidal behaviour is a cause for concern among many western countries; in general, it is most common among young women. This research used qualitative methods to explore the narratives of 24 women, to contextualise their insights, and to examine the meanings of events leading to and implicated in the recovery from suicidal behaviour..."
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International Resources and Research
Blashki, G., Pirkis, J., Morgan, H., & Ciechomski, L. (2006). Managing depression and suicide risk in men presenting to primary care physicians. Prim Care, 33(1), 211-221, x-xi.
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The Suicide Prevention Resource Centre (SPRC) in the USA has an audio discussion series on suicide prevention online.
The SPRC Discussion Series seeks to foster meaningful dialogue on suicide and suicide prevention among practitioners, researchers, and others working in the field. Each invitational teleconference is 60-90 minutes in length, limited to 25 participants, and moderated by an SPRC staff member.
An archive of recordings from this series can be accessed using the Windows Media Player or the RealOne Player. Supplementary materials available for each session include a description of the topic, speaker biographies, a list of discussion participants, and any handouts or PowerPoint presentations provided by the speaker.
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The first International Suicide Postvention Seminar will be held on 8 September 2006 as a one-day pre-event of the 11th European Symposium on Suicide and Suicidal Behaviour, 9-12 September 2006 in Portoroz, Slovenia. The seminar will bring together survivors, caregivers and researchers, and will offer a platform for dialogue. Participants will have the opportunity to meet people with similar interests.
The program will offer a state of the art review of the postvention field, including research, practice, and plans for future developments including:
- Prof. Annette Beautrais presenting "Research in postvention: what we know and do not know"
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The British Medical Journal (BMJ) reports that "the European Medicines Agency has approved the use of fluoxetine (Prozac) for children aged 8 years or more and teenagers who have moderate to severe depression - but only where psychological therapies alone have failed. The European guidelines state that fluoxetine should be used only after the patient has failed to respond after four to six sessions of psychological therapy without the drug. The starting dose should be 10 mg—half the starting dose for adults—rising to 20 mg a day. If there is no clinical benefit after nine weeks, the guidelines say, treatment should be reconsidered"
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In the latest issue of Crisis: the journal of crisis intervention and suicide prevention, vol. 27, no. 1 (2006), Brian Mishara, President of the International Association for Suicide Prevention (IASP) has an editorial entitled Cultural specificity and universality of suicide: challenges for the International Association for Suicide Prevention. He describes in this overview how different or common suicide is across different cultures and communities and outlines briefly some effective local and culturally specific suicide prevention initiatives. Also noted in this issue:
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Auseinet has launched a new look website. The Australian Network for Promotion, Prevention and Early Intervention for Mental Health (Auseinet) works with governments and organisations across many sectors to support change in Australia's mental health policy and practice. Auseinet is a national project funded by the Australian Department of Health and Ageing under the Mental Health Strategy and the National Suicide Prevention Strategy.
The April issue of its newsletter Auseinetter focuses on suicide prevention.
In its latest e-journal The Australian e-Journal for the Advancement of Mental Health May 2006, Annette Beautrais writes a guest editorial titled "Suicide prevention strategies 2006".
Key points are that there is not a lot of evidence re efficacy in suicide prevention but do have good knowledge on risk factors. It summarizes what has been demonstrated on prevention. This includes information about what is likely to be effective or sometimes less effective when delivering educational programmes for professional groups, gate keeper training and public awareness education and mental health literacy. These findings would suggest that activities including training of gatekeepers and people who can recognize problems and access help, and programmess that target risk groups are worth looking at.
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Reaching out. A new drive to reduce the suicide rates in young men has been launched in England by Health Minister Rosie Winterton. Speaking to mark International Men's Mental Health week, the Minister launched the report Reaching out, outlining the findings of three pilots which have been looking at ways to reduce suicide rates in young men. The pilots - based in Camden, Bedfordshire and Manchester - found that:
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The three pilot sites were set up as part of the National Suicide Prevention Strategy for England.
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Truth hurts: Young people and self harm a national inquiry has been released in Britain.
In 2004 the Camelot Foundation and the Mental Health Foundation UK launched a National Inquiry into self-harm among young people.
Hawton, K., Harriss, L., & Zahl, D. (2006). Deaths from all causes in a long-term follow-up study of 11583 deliberate self-harm patients. Psychol Med, 36(3), 397-405.
"A follow-up study of 11583 DSH patients who presented to a general hospital over a 20-year period was conducted to examine risk of death from a range of causes during a follow-up period of between 3 and 23 years.
Conclusions. In addition to increased risk of suicide, DSH patients are at increased risk of dying from a wide range of other causes. Possible explanations include lifestyle factors, physical disorders contributing to initial risk of DSH, and social disadvantage. The findings are relevant to clinical management and evaluation of outcome and health-care costs associated with DSH"
Hawton, K., & Harriss, L. (2006). Deliberate self-harm in people aged 60 years and over: characteristics and outcome of a 20-year cohort. Int J Geriatr Psychiatry.
"Little information is available about older deliberate self-harm (DSH) patients and their outcome. METHODS: This study is a prospective investigation and follow-up of 730 consecutive patients (459 females and 271 males) aged 60 years and over who presented to a general hospital following DSH over a 20-year period, 1978-1997. DSH in older people is closely related to suicide, both in terms of suicidal intent and risk of eventual suicide, especially when DSH is repeated. The range of problems experienced by older DSH patients requires extensive and multidisciplinary clinical interventions."
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SPINZ e-news is compiled by Russell Tuffery, SPINZ Information Officer. Contact Russell for any of the resources here or on the SPINZ website, phone 09 300 7035 or email info@spinz.org.nz
SPINZ can supply many of these, but we are constrained by copyright in some cases. Also try your organisation's library or your public library. Many resources can be obtained for a small fee via interlibrary loan (interloan) - ask at your local library.
Please contact Russell if you are having difficulty obtaining a resource.
To order New Zealand Suicide Prevention Resources visit www.spinz.org.nz
