An+Increasing+Issue

An Increasing Issue By Hannah McGinn

** Introduction **
Every year in Australia many young people are taking their own lives and death by suicide is one of the most tragic ways to end your life. Many young people who take their own lives have the illness known as ‘depression’, which is an illness that 1 in every 5 people will experience during one stage in their lives. Teenagers are more at risk of depression if their relatives have suffered from the illness, are living an unhappy life or if their parents are alcohol/drug addicts. For youth between the ages of 10 and 24, suicide is the third leading cause of death (2008). These statistics speak for themselves, Youth Suicide and Self Harm are huge issues that need to be addressed. Members of the community need to be educated about Youth Suicide and Self harm due to the increasing rate of teen suicide.



** Consultation Process **
As apart of the project planning stage a bulletin was posted on my Community Notice Board, asking for young people that are interested in: After posting the bulletin a few young people, as well as parents concerning their children, contacted me about joining the project. The members of the project were encouraged to get involved in the planning of the event as it is an issue that could possibly affect them personally sometime in their life. Small goals were put in place which gave members the drive to achieve them and accomplish something for themselves. I also expressed the need to educate them about Suicide and Self Harm as in the near future they will be the leaders of our community.
 * Helping construct a Youth awareness event focused on ‘Youth Suicide and Self Harm’
 * Being educated about Youth Suicide and Self Harm
 * Attending meetings to organize the event

The first meeting was held at our local Sports and Recreational oval and was focused on the members filling in an awareness questionnaire about Youth Suicide and Self Harm. For privacy reasons all surveys were anonymous. Though the project group was small and the data collected from the questionnaire did not represent the entire teenage population, a trend across the data showed that many young people were unaware that depression has indicators, and that depression is an illness that may cause someone to hurt themselves or take their own life.

My role during the meetings was to support the group to make sure that all necessary topics were covered and to ensure that all members were able to have their say. Many ideas were brought up during the meetings and from the answers in the questionnaires given out. The young people involved were of great value as they bought many new ideas and points of view to the table.

** Networking **
The meetings that took place allowed time for much needed brainstorming and it gave the members a chance to voice their own ideas and opinions about the event. The points from the brainstorming activity were then used to create a final plan about what stores and activities will be available on the day. Once the list was completed each member was made responsible for the overseeing of their selected store or activity, as this would give them a chance to be involved with not only the setting up, but also the running of the event.

Advertising the event would be for the creative members in the project as the event was promoted by: Other agencies such as Brahminy Group, the towns Youth Group and a survivor of depression were asked to be involved with the event. The Brahminy Group is a non-Government Youth organization that provides interventions for ‘at risk’ young people and was an asset to the event. The towns local Youth Group runs a drop in centre for youth and was keen to run a ‘Drop in stall’ for anyone that wanted to drop by and have a chat.
 * Creative posters that were pinned up on the Community and School Notice boards
 * Flyers that were handed out at the local Drop in Centre
 * Announcements over the local radio station
 * Advertisements in local school newsletters

The Event: Suicide and Self Harm Awareness Day Sunday 17th May
The event begins at 10:00am and will take place at the Batchelor Sports and Recreational Oval. This event was created by a group of young people within your community and is aimed at promoting awareness for Suicide & Self Harm amongst young people. On the day a number of stalls will be ran by volunteers: At 12:30pm a guest speaker Renae Walker, a Survivor of Depression, will talk about her experiences of “Living with Depression”. The day will conclude with a fantastic local band ‘//Bloodstone Brothers’//
 * That can educate you about the illness ‘Depression’ which is a leading cause of Suicide in society today.
 * That can educate you about indicators or signs of Depression and Self Harm
 * That are available for a ‘Drop in’ chat about any issues
 * Who will be running a workshop on Youth Intervention
 * That can assist you in finding help and support

This event will raise awareness about Suicide and Self Harm as it is educating both young people and adults about all of the issues associated with the with both. Throughout the day the community will have the opportunity to be educated: This event is a chance for people to ask questions and have them answered and a place where correct and useful information is provided. The event can teach people new life skills, which they are able to take away with them.
 * 1) About ‘Depression’ which is a leading cause of Suicide amongst young people
 * 2) About the help that is available to them and how to go about getting it
 * 3) In noticing the indicators of Depression and Self Harm

The day will be a non-profit event, with all the people involved volunteering their time and effort to support the issue. The local Council was contacted to ask for permission to use the local Sports and Recreational Oval facilities. The Council said that an events permit would need to be filled out or the event will not be able to go ahead. The Council was behind the cause of the event and said they would be able to further assist us with the event by providing a stage, sound equipment and a pre-existing insurance policy to cover the event.

** Evaluation **
There are few approaches that can be taken to evaluate the success of the event at raising awareness in the community about Youth Suicide and Self Harm. Young people can get involved in the evaluation process by the means of the project members encouraging other young people to discuss their own issues and also to talk about what they personally got out of the event.
 * 1) The number of people that attended the event is an indicator of its success as it shows that people are concerned about Youth Suicide & Self Harm and want to be further educated on the issue.
 * 2) Positive verbal feedback is another sign of the events success as verbal feedback can prove that a person had some benefit from the event.
 * 3) Evaluation forms can be filled in by the community members that attended the event. The list of questions is required to be filled out in a rated form e.g //Very Poor, Poor, Good or Very Good//**.** The success of the event could be determined by the responses and feedback received from the forms.
 * 4) A series of focus groups can also be run to where participants ask young people who attended the event questions about their understanding of self harm and suicide and which parts of the vent were important in educating them and changing their view of suicide and self harm.

** References: **

 * 1) Department of Health and Human Services, Youth Suicide **[]**
 * 2) Brahminy Youth Group, Miles rd, Rum Jungle
 * 3) Coomalie Government Council, Cameron rd Batchelor
 * 4) Concern: EAP, Depression Awareness Screening  **[|www.concern-eap.com/ee-dep/depression.htm]**
 * 5) The Age, Is it Depression or just the saddness of life: http://www.theage.com.au/.../ 09/22/1189881837030.html
 * 6) 6. Jimmy Shelter, Band Promo [|www.jimmyshelter.nl/ blog-78-Band-promotion-10...]