Award recognises needs of families affected by suicide

September 21, 2007

A lecturer in counselling at the University of New England has won a national award for research aimed at supporting parents who have lost a young adult or adolescent child to suicide.

Dr Myfanwy Maple was honoured during the 2007 LiFe Awards ceremony of Suicide Prevention Australia (SPA) in Melbourne earlier this month. Professor Rosemary Calder from the Mental Health and Workforce Division of the Australian Government's Department of Health and Ageing presented Dr Maple with SPA's "Emerging Research Award".

Dr Maple (pictured here) said that SPA's recognition – through the award – that researchers need to focus on the aftermath as well as the prevention of suicide highlighted the importance of this issue. She said that Senator Brett Mason (Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Health and Ageing) had included the subject of bereavement in his opening address at the awards ceremony.

"People are understanding that, even with effective prevention programs, there will always be deaths through suicide, and that it's really important to recognise the people who are bereaved," she said. "For every death there are at least six people – often many more – who are affected."

Dr Maple said that she admired the courage of bereaved parents who had been willing to talk to her about their loss in the face of the social stigma that still surrounds suicide. "Talking to them has been an amazing experience," she said, "and we have gained a lot of new knowledge through their involvement."

One result of that experience, she added, was the recognition that people who suffer a bereavement such as this remain 'connected' to their loved one for the rest of their lives. "We need to accept that there will be times when these parents will be thinking about their child, even when a long time has passed, and that it's OK for them to do so," she said.

The LiFe Awards were presented on Sunday 9 September, and the following day – Monday 10 September – was World Suicide Prevention Day. The theme of the day this year – "Preventing suicide across the lifespan" – emphasised the fact that suicide occurs in all age groups, and that intervention strategies can be adapted to meet the needs of those different groups. "Fluctuating trends in suicide deaths across different cultures, countries, and age groups are still poorly understood," Dr Maple said.

Posted by Jim Scanlan at September 21, 2007 12:42 PM