Community Postvention Response

While a suicide has a distressing impact upon those directly bereaved, it also affects others in the wider community  - neighbours, schoolmates, colleagues, etc.  On occasion, glorification of the person who died, sensationalisation of their death, imitation and the presence of a highly charged emotional environment may influence others in the community to attempt or complete suicide.  This is referred to as "suicide contagion".

As suicide contagion is relatively rare, communities may not always have people in their midst experienced in managing such complex events.  Suicide contagion, by its nature, is contagious.  It does not necesaarily remain confined to one set of people.  So when it occurs concerns arise for people who are not engaged with any particular provider or carer (e.g., are not at school, are not under mental health services).  This is particularly so where it is unclear who will take the lead in the concerned community or communities to ensure these people receive assistance.

CASA provides the Community Postvention Response Service to help communities address and manage suspected or confirmed suicide contagion.  The considerable skills and experience of its nationwide team of psychologist, nurses, social workers and cultural advisors in suicide prevention and suicide postvention combined with a sophisticated telecommunications and information technology enables CASA to assist communities through this most difficult of circumstances.

Services offered very much depend upon the circumstances of the contagion and the preparedness and resources within a community.  Most commonly, the Community Postvention Response Service will assist a community with:

• Analysing available information to ascertain if a cluster of suicides or suicide attempts has occurred, or might be occurring
• Facilitating co-ordination meetings between all the different sectors involved (e.g., community groups, Child Youth & Family, Mental Health services, Group Special Education, Victim Support) so that the sectors can plan together and have a co-ordinated approach
• Providing training in suicide screening, or refresher training for professionals in suicide risk assessment
• Assisting the community with strategies for working with media to ensure safe and helpful media reporting
• Working alongside agencies to help them identify which people in the community may be at risk for suicide attempts, and planning how to mitigate the risks
• Providing resources on topics such as bereavement by suicide, suicide contagion, and how to form effective postvention working groups
• Developing suicide prevention and suicide postvention training plans
• Providing advice on any specific issues that arise (e.g., memorial services, internet memorial sites, overcoming barriers to accessing necessary services)
• Facilitating a 'debriefing' meeting for service providers at the completion of the community response
• Providing advice on how to address  the long terms implications for a community (e.g., planning responses to anniversaries of the deaths, looking at how to address any gaps in service provision identified).

The service is free of charge and is funded by the Ministry of Health.

Sometimes it can be very difficult for communities to know whether suicide contagion is occurring, or whether the community should be concerned about the potential for this to occur.  Unless there is someone well qualified and with experience in contagion available in the area to assist and advise, then the concerned agency or individual should contact the Community Postvention Response Service.  We will work with the caller and other angencies and collect information to decide what steps, if any, may be needed.  Service is offered both by telephone and through face-to-face meetings in the community.

The Community Postvention Response Service is available throughout New Zealand.

You can contact the Community Postvention Response Service on freephone 0800-448 908 or via email at cprs@casa.org.nz.

If you or your community have used the Community Postvention Response Service and you wish to give us feedback then please do so in the contact form here.