Suicide prevention training – The Pharmacy Guild’s Queensland Branch is inviting pharmacy staff and community members from Gympie, Maryborough, Hervey Bay, Gladstone, Rockhampton, Woorabinda and surrounding areas to participate in free local early suicide prevention programs.
The Stronger Smarter Yarns for Life program was developed with and for First Nations Peoples and non-Indigenous people and is being run as a fully-funded workshop in:
- Gladstone on Tuesday 24 May
- Woorabinda on Friday 27 May
- Hervey Bay on Monday 30 May
- Gympie on Wednesday 1 June
The second program, Conversations for Life, is an evening workshop to run in:
- Rockhampton on Wednesday 25 May
- Gympie on Tuesday 31 May
- Maryborough on Thursday 2 June
The Pharmacy Guild of Australia, Queensland Branch President, Chris Owen says that pharmacy staff will participate with community members in the integrated training.
“Sadly, suicide rates are more than twice as high in young Indigenous Australians compared to non-Indigenous Australians. The training will support participants to have conversations with people in the community who may be at risk,” he says.
“By educating and upskilling Queenslanders in early suicide prevention, we hope to increase the confidence of community members and pharmacy staff so they can engage in conversations with people at risk for early intervention.”
Mr Owen adds: “There are only 15 spots available for each course and limited places remain. Now is the time to take action if you’ve ever wanted to join training around early conversations, building community connections and social inclusion.
“Community pharmacies are highly accessible with 97% of consumers living within 2.5km of their local community pharmacy, and 66% in regional areas. Pharmacies are also the most frequently visited health destinations and staff are well placed for significant interactions with members of the public.
“The program will also highlight referral pathways to locally-led suicide prevention services to support practical and ongoing community collaboration.”
The program is supported by funding from the Australian government through Central Queensland, Wide Bay, Sunshine Coast PHN. Pharmacy staff and local community members can register for the free training at guild.org.au/qldsuicideprevention.
