‘Peer CARE Companion in Community’ provides a ‘golden thread’ of trained and supported community members with lived experience of suicide known as Peer CARE Companions. The volunteer-based service strengthens the existing network of suicide prevention services including aftercare, postvention and safe spaces, and address service and support gaps in community by providing ‘light touch’ peer support and connection.
Roses in the Ocean piloted this project in 2021/22, which is being evaluated through the Telethon Kids Institute, in the Peel and Rockingham Kwinana (PaRK) region of Western Australia. With in-principle support from a number of key suicide prevention service providers, the pilot focused on supplementing postvention services initially through collaborations with Anglicare WA and StandBY Support After Suicide.
Roses in the Ocean is now expanding this trial to two regional sites (Perth, Western Australia and Northern Beaches, NSW), and it will be coming soon to Cairns, Gladstone, Rockhampton and Brisbane North in Queensland. We will be developing formal partnerships with both national and local service providers to enable collaboration and integration of Peer CARE Companions with existing community supports.