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Lifeline Australia is well known for its 13 11 14 hotline offering support to Australians in emotional distress. However, many don't realise the reach of their work in the community.
The volunteers on the other end of the phone are sitting at any one of Lifeline's 40 centres around the nation and half of those centres are based in rural and regional areas.
This puts Lifeline right in the heart of communities, ensuring Lifeline can also offer services that respond directly to local community needs.
At Lifeline Central West NSW, the drought and its lasting effects are all too familiar.
Lifeline Central West chief executive officer Stephanie Robinson and her team have been living through the drought and working with a range of affected communities over the last six years - and have been instrumental in drawing attention to its effects on mental health and how to manage them.
"We noticed there was a lot of practical support in the form of material items, so fodder and feed, hampers for struggling families etc. These are all good community responses, but there wasn't much being done to meet the emotional wellbeing of our community," she said.
Then two events occurred that spurred Robinson into action. At the Dubbo Show, she met a young rural banker who displayed the signs of vicarious trauma.
He told her he felt like he was delivering the last straw to his clients when he had to have difficult conversations with farmers about repossession and foreclosures. Robinson noticed this was taking a heavy emotional toll.
Shortly after this conversation, a local community member made an attempt on his own life. This had an enormous impact on the community. The ripple effect of the tragic event opened people's minds to the importance of understanding mental health. Ms Robinson jumped at the chance to make mental health first aid accessible to the community.
"Having lived in the bush for 27 years, I'm all too aware that rural people are often reluctant to seek help, and that they ideally respond better to the people that know them."
So, Ms Robinson set about setting up training for people she and her team identified as Gatekeepers who could watch out for others.
"We knew that if we could teach people who have regular access with community members, how to recognise changes in behaviour, how to respond appropriately and how to refer to the most suitable service, we would start saving lives."
The Lifeline team worked with the community to handpick people they identified as Gatekeepers, people who, because of their role, have regular access to locals.
Lifeline invited publicans and rural fire service members for the initial pilot. Results were immediate: "Shortly after the first training session, a publican noticed that one of her regulars came in dressed in his Sunday best. He fixed up his tab (something he was usually reticent to do) and thanked her staff for everything. Having completed the training, the publican noticed the signs and acted. She asked some questions, followed through and did an intervention. Her customer had very strategically planned his death and she managed to find him. She will say even today, that she wouldn't have picked up that he was in distress if she hadn't have done this training," Ms Robinson said.
This is one of many interventions Ms Robinson and her team have been advised about since they started offering Gatekeeper training.
"We're at our best when we work as a community, it's the personal connection that enables us to care for each other. When we teach people to recognise the signs, they can start the conversation and they can save lives."
Lifeline Australia believes Gatekeeper training is an important tool which communities nationally should have access to. To find out more about Gatekeeper training or to help fund more of this training please donate to Lifeline: www.lifeline.org.au/support-lifeline/donate/donation
Drought Tool Kit
Lifeline Australia has published a Drought Tool Kit to provide practical tips to assist those living in drought affected areas to care for themselves and those around them. The Drought Tool Kit is freely available at www.lifeline.org.au
Topics include:
- Approaching financial options
- Staying connected with each other
- Acknowledging change, loss & grief
- Involving children and adolescents in coping measures
- Improving wellbeing
- Managing mental health and suicidal thoughts
- Useful resources
If you or someone you know is experiencing emotional distress, please call Lifeline on 13 11 14 (24 hours/7 days) or chat to a crisis supporter on-line at lifeline.org.au (7pm - midnight). If life is in danger, please call 000.