Co-designing a service for young people experiencing suicidal behaviours in Perth - The Youth Sanctuary Model

Investigators: Dr Ashleigh Lin, Dr Nicole Hill, Dr Bep Uink, Dr Samantha Speirs, Jacinta Freeman, Lisa Cooper, Hamza Bouras

Project description

Suicide is the leading cause of death among young people aged 15 to 24 years in Western Australia. Current services are limited, stretched and frequently unable to respond to needs. Based on the successful Maytree Respite Model developed in the UK (https://www.maytree.org.uk), we propose to co-design the model for a short-term peer recovery sanctuary for young people 16 to 24 years experiencing suicidal behaviours (including suicidal thoughts and suicide attempts).

The Maytree Model is proven to prevent death by suicide by providing a space free from stigma and judgement, for people to calmly explore their feelings, feel validated and supported, and connect to other services. The Youth Sanctuary Model will also greatly assist the young person’s family and support networks who often struggle knowing how to best support and care for a young person in suicidal crisis and beyond.

Implementing the Youth Sanctuary Model will bring to WA global best-practice in suicide response and prevention for young people. The first phase of the project is to co-design the Youth Sanctuary Model for the Perth metropolitan context.

Project outputs

The aim of this project is to work with the community to develop a model for a Youth Sanctuary for young people with lived experience of suicidal behaviour (including thoughts and ideation) in Perth. This service would be a short-stay residential peer led service for young people expressing suicidal thoughts and behaviours. We want young people and those that care for them to contribute to the design of this service to make sure it suits their needs.

Invited to participate in co-designing the Youth Sanctuary were:

• Young people aged 16-24 years who have had lived and living experience of suicidal thoughts and/or behaviours,
• Parents/caregivers of children and young people up to the age of 24 years who have lived or living experience of suicidal thoughts and/or behaviours, and
• People (other than primary carers) who work with or support young people who are feeling suicidal (“stakeholders”).

If you would like to talk about any aspect of the project, please contact Dr Nicole Hill on nicole.hill@telethonkids.org.au

Funders of the project:

WA Mental Health Commission

External collaborators:

Ruah, Samaritans WA