Call to Action | GWCOM Suicide Prevention Project
The Greater Whitsunday Council of Mayors Suicide Prevention Taskforce has come up with a community-led suicide prevention model aimed at improving mental health care in the Greater Whitsunday region. Greater Whitsunday Communities are now calling on businesses to get involved by providing financial contributions and partnerships to allow implementation of this innovative pilot model. The Pathways Connect model has been designed to work with all existing services, community groups and initiatives within the region. We have listened to our community through a co-design process that involved a broad range of community members, service providers, industry, funding providers and government representatives to come up with exactly what our community needs. Services are saturated, however, if we can connect people to the right option at the right time we will, over time, ease the pressure. Read more about the Pathways Connect Model in the Pathways Connect Briefing Paper.
In November 2022 during the last Taskforce gathering, a ‘Funding Steering Committee’ was established to support GWC in forming a list of target partners for the implementation of the pilot model, Pathways Connect. While facing challenges in securing funding, the steering committee has supported GWC in stakeholder engagement and is continually providing creative options and ways forward.
In late March, the Greater Whitsunday Council of Mayors Suicide Prevention Taskforce unveiled an innovative community-led suicide prevention model aimed at improving mental health care in the Greater Whitsunday region. To do this, the Taskforce leveraged the launch of the Greater Whitsunday Council of Mayors Suicide Prevention Project Co-design Report, which details the process and outcomes, for our unique footprint. The report can be publicly accessed on our website Final Report - Launched March 2023 — Greater Whitsunday Communities . The report can also be found on any of the Mackay, Isaac and Whitsunday Council websites, and the Northern Queensland Primary Health Network and the Mackay Hospital and Health Service platforms.
From the launch and release of the final report, GWC has continued the co-design of the pilot model, working with the team at My Community Directory to refine the technology required to support the backbone and resourcing of the model. GWC look forward to sharing this progress as we continue to work to find funding to implement the proposal co-designed with industry workforce input.
In April, GWC Program Coordinator Courtney Wilson and Executive Officer Carol Norris presented the Greater Whitsunday Council of Mayors Suicide Prevention Taskforce pilot model – Pathways Connect at the Resource Industry Network (RIN) Twilight Drinks Event, spreading awareness about the initiative and encouraging investment. The Resource Industry Network is a peak industry association representing companies actively engaged in the resource sector and those who are allied to the sector. The purpose of RIN is to build a prosperous and resilient resources community through leveraging the collective capabilities of the resources sector supply chain. Courtney delivered an emotional presentation about the importance of connection, compassion and a positive experience and how the Pathways Connect model can achieve these as key aspects in the prevention of deaths by suicide. The presentation received a good response, and we were deeply moved by those who shared their experiences of suicide following the presentation and the support of various RIN members who shared their support and interest of the pilot.
