WORLD suicide prevention day was honoured in the Moree community on Wednesday.
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The annual day gathers people from across the globe to acknowledge those lost to suicide and to make an international effort at reducing its toll.
Farm-Link, a suicide prevention project working throughout the New England North West region, marks this as an important day in the yearly calendar.
This year, part of the Farm-Link activities included delivering its Well-being and Suicide Prevention program, SCARF (Suspect, Connect, Ask, Refer, Follow-up) to 20 agricultural professionals from Moree and surrounding areas.
Farm-Link, funded under the National Suicide Prevention Program, is a project of the University of Newcastle’s Centre for Rural and Remote Mental Health.
The SCARF program is informed by best evidence and has been rigorously evaluated.
It has also been borne of many years of practice in rural and farming communities.
Suspect, connect, ask, refer and follow-up is the action plan participants are educated to use to help someone who they may ‘suspect’ as not being as healthy as they possibly could be.
Health is defined as a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.
Having mental health means being the best you can be and fulfilling your full potential - in work and business, relationships and your personal goals.
The training teaches participants how to identify when someone may not be travelling too well, and how to connect with that person, ask them directly about their feelings and refer them to appropriate help, follow-up is then encouraged.
The theme for this year’s World Suicide Prevention Day was ‘Suicide Prevention: One World Connected’.
Farm-Link strongly advocates that suicide prevention belongs in the community and it is everyone’s business.
Being connected to others is a critical component of being healthy, and reducing the risk of suicide.
The SCARF program focuses on six key factors related to health, and one of these is social connectedness.
It doesn’t have to mean that you have hundreds of friends, but that you are meaningfully connected to a few, and feel as though you belong.
Reaching out to someone may just save a life.
Something as simple as a smile, or a kind word, can go a long way to improving someone else’s day.
The SCARF program strongly encourages people to connect.
Farm-Link welcomes contact from community members who would like to find out more about the SCARF program, referral pathways, or regarding what services Farm-Link may offer.
The project coordinator, Meg Perceval, can be reached on 0428 299 101 meg.perceval@newcastle.edu.au or the project support officer, Fiona Livingstone, can be reached on 0427 072 105 farmlinkinverell@gmail.com.
If you’re concerned about yourself or someone else contact Lifeline on 131 114.
