Co-designing suicide prevention peer working training for carers
*Please note, the recording does not include the content covered in the workshop breakout rooms.
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Organisation Involved: Roses in the Ocean
Workshop Facilitator: Bronwen Edwards (Tina Kenny was absent on the day of the LE Summit)
Workshop Duration: 3 hours
This workshop was an opportunity for people with a lived experience of caring for a person who is in suicidal crisis to contribute to a co-design process. We are co-designing professional development training for carer peer workers who support people who care for someone in suicidal crisis. This training will be called the SP Peer Worker Program (Carer Support) and will be part of a series of training developed by Roses in the Ocean, which includes SP Peer Worker Program (Crisis Support) and SP Peer Worker Program (Bereavement Support). The workshop will explore lived experience perspectives on the needs of carers during this difficult time and the best way to meet these needs. Participants were invited to share examples of challenges they have faced when caring for a person in suicidal crisis so that the training can prepare carer peer workers to respond. We also identified important qualities that carers seek in a peer worker and carer priorities for the training.
Workshop Outcomes:
– Carers had the opportunity to share their experiences in a supportive environment with other carers and be heard
– Satisfaction of using lived experience to make a difference for other carers
– Carer perspectives had the opportunity to influence and inform support services for carers
– The workshop helped with the development of the first specialised training for carer peer workers who work in suicide prevention
About the Facilitator:
Tina Kenny (absent on the day): Tina is the SP Peer Workforce Manager at Roses in the Ocean and is responsible for providing professional development and support services for the emerging Suicide Prevention Peer Workforce. Tina is an experienced peer worker, teacher and adult educator. She led the development of Roses in the Ocean’s SP Peer Worker Program and has extensive experience developing courses for the Mental Health Coordinating Council and the SES Recovery and Wellbeing College. Tina was part of the facilitation team for the local co-design of Safe Havens across NSW and is passionate about finding ways to meet the unmet needs of people impacted by suicide.