Mental Illness and Bereavement Project

1. Project Profile

Project Name(s)	Mental Illness and Bereavement Project
Funded Organisation	SANE Australia
Geographical Area	National
State/Territory	National
Approach(es)	Selected
Individual/Group	Group
LIFE Action Areas	Improving the evidence base and understanding of suicide prevention Building individual resilience and the capacity for self-help Improving community strength, resilience and capacity in suicide prevention Taking a coordinated approach to suicide prevention Providing targeted suicide prevention activities Implementing standards and quality in suicide prevention
Target Groups	People bereaved by suicide People living with a mental illness People who have previously attempted suicide People who have self harmed CALD communities Workforce

2. Project Description

The purpose of the project is to investigate how provision of bereavement services might be better provided to relatives of people with mental illness who have suicided or gone missing. Outcomes of the Project will be a better understanding of the support needs of the bereaved and enhanced bereavement services that will reflect this understanding. The objectives of the project are to:

• Build an evidence base about improvements to services for the relatives and friends of people with mental illness who have suicided or gone missing
• Develop service enhancements that improve the level of support provided in the community to the target group
• Enhance the capacity of services to provide new initiatives by staff development and training of staff from SANE and other key organisations in the area
• Implement a series of practical and achievable enhancements to services and supports for family and friends of people with mental illness who have died by suicide or gone missing
• Evaluate the efficacy of new service enhancements implemented as part of the project
• Sustain enhanced services for bereaved families and friends through active promotion of the project outcomes and advocacy for more effective, appropriate and responsive linkages and services

3. Activities

The project has been undertaken in several phases, as described below.

First Research Phase (07-08)

• Literature review
• Consultation with 41 bereaved family and friends (the target group)
• Survey of mental health and bereavement services across Australia asking them about how they currently support the target group and how their services could be enhanced to support this group

Second Phase (08-09)

• Development and delivery of resources for bereaved family and friends and for mental health, bereavement and helpline services
• Sixteen workshops aimed at educating people working in bereavement, mental health and helpline were delivered to approximately 250 staff from 50 services around Australia

Third phase (09-13)

• Continued dissemination of developed resources
• Continued to establish workforce training to peak mental health, bereavement and helpline services across Australia
• Extended the training to community services, such as the police force, coronial services and private mental health sector
• Continued communication of details of project activities to the key organisations and the broader community Top of page

4. Funding

• Round 1
  • NSPP funding
    • 2006/07 - $264,668
    • 2007/08 - $148,224
    • 2008/09 - $77,108
  • % project funding - 100%
• Round 2
  • NSPP funding
    • 2009/10 - $264,373
    • 2010/11 - $273,627
  • % project funding - data not supplied
• Round 3
  • NSPP funding
    • 2011/12 - $278,552
    • 2012/13 - $283,566
  • % project funding - data not supplied

5. Staffing

• Round 1 (2006/07, 2007/08, 2008/09)
  • Number staff positions funded (FTE) - 2
  • Number staff positions filled (FTE) - 2
• Round 2 (2009/10, 2010/11)
  • Number staff positions funded (FTE) - data not supplied
  • Number staff positions filled (FTE) - data not supplied
• Round 3 (2011/12, 2012/13)
  • Number staff positions funded (FTE) - data not supplied
  • Number staff positions filled (FTE) - data not supplied