Site goes live to prevent suicide

BALLARAT Community Health and Western Victoria Primary Health Network have partnered to produce another suicide prevention tool.

The Ballarat Mental Health Support website went live last week and is designed as an easy-to-navigate service directory linking locals with relevant and helpful suicide prevention, mental health, social and emotional resources and assistance in the broader Goldfields region.

People who have experienced mental illness or suicidality, their family members and carers, and support organisations have contributed to the development of the site.

The resource lists services available in the City of Ballarat, along with Golden Plains, Hepburn, Moorabool, Pyrenees, and the Central Goldfields shires and has developed within the Ballarat Suicide Prevention Place-Based Trial.

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“Our approach from the outset of these trials was to focus on Ballarat, and design placed-based projects aimed at meeting local needs, to which we know in the suicide prevention space there are many,” said Ballarat Community Health CEO Sean Duffy.

“The website will support individuals in the Ballarat and Goldfields region to navigate and access local, statewide, and national programs and services to support mental health and wellbeing and to reduce the risk and impact of suicide.”

Western Victoria Primary Health Network CEO Rowena Clift said the website has an internal search engine and questionnaire which can link those needing help to trusted resources and groups.

There are also simple contacts listed if site visitors would like to speak to a real voice over the phone.

“The site includes… information on a variety of topics across the categories of mental health and social emotional wellbeing, suicide prevention and support after a suicide,” she said.

“We need to continue to design and develop new services that directly influence the outcomes in preventing suicide, and this website is just one step along that journey.”

The ballaratmentalhealth.com.au site has been funded by the State Government and Western Victoria PHN within the Suicide Prevention Place Based Trials program.