By Samantha Lilley, Project Officer – Embrace Project, Mental Health Australia
The Embrace Multicultural Mental Health (the Embrace Project) provides a national focus on mental health and suicide prevention for people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. It is a national platform for Australian mental health services and multicultural communities to access resources, and link to services and information in a culturally accessible format.
Over the last 18 months, the Embrace Project, in partnership with multiple organisations, has focused on progressing the Embrace Suicide Prevention Pilot (ESPP). This phased project aims to inform and extend the Framework for Mental Health in Multicultural Australia (the Framework), a tool for mental health services and the workforce to evaluate and enhance their cultural responsiveness, to the suicide prevention service sector.
Phase 1 (January 2023 – February 2024)
A partnership between the Embrace Project, Suicide Prevention Australia, and R U OK?, Phase 1 saw the Framework implemented by R U OK? to support meaningful community engagement and resource co-design with three community groups - Arabic, Hindi and Vietnamese.
Phase 1 of the pilot achieved the following:
- R U OK? resources were developed and co-designed with Arabic, Hindi and Vietnamese communities across Sydney and Melbourne, to help to encourage a sustainable way for communities to begin conversations about suicide prevention.
- Gained insights and learnings contributing to best practice guidance that will ensure the Framework continues to evolve and adapt to service and community needs.
- A living blueprint to support others when undertaking co-design with multicultural communities in the context of suicide prevention, building capacity across the sector.
- Early development of a comprehensive repository of relevant suicide prevention resources for communities and the sector.
For more information on Phase 1 and the translated resources, visit: Embrace Suicide Prevention Pilot
What’s next: Phase 2
Building on the learnings of Phase 1, Phase 2 of the pilot aims to improve the accessibility and usability of the Framework for suicide prevention services. It focusses on:
- Working with suicide prevention services, further developing the Framework and its utility for the sector.
- Facilitating information sharing to build an understanding of suicide prevention needs and responses in partnerships with communities and the service sector.
- Supporting equitable access for multicultural community representatives and leaders to participate in service design, implementation, evaluation and reform processes.
Stay updated on progress by visiting the Embrace website or contacting the team directly at [email protected]
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