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Suicide Survivor Activities - An International Per
Suicide Survivor Activities - An International Per
Suicide Survivor Activities - An International Per
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Karl Andriessen
University of Melbourne
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The aim of this article is to present a brief description of suicide survivor activities with an inter-
national, mostly European perspective; to report on the activities of IASP Taskforce Postvention;
and to raise a few questions regarding future developments in the field of postvention.
on. In the year 2000, an international Population served tance and agency administration services
alliance, the International Network for While most agencies offer services for were accepted by a few agencies in lieu
Survivors of Suicide, was established with all (adult) survivors, a few focus on speci- of fees.
survivor services from Norway, Sweden, fic groups such as parents, siblings, adults, Newsletter
Estonia, and USA, with the expectation partners, close friends, and/or combina- Only a handful of the local groups pub-
to improve the development in northern tions of groups such as parents and sib- lish a newsletter. National newsletters
European countries. In 2002–3 represen- lings. Some groups are open for bereaved are produced in France, Germany,
tatives from Uruguay, Russia, France and persons regardless the cause of death. Switzerland, and the U.K.
Belgium joined the network. Services for children and for clinician-
Ireland has a well-established suicide Brochures/leaflets
survivors were notably few or absent.
survivor network and is considered as an Approximately two in three of the
integral part of the national suicide pre- Type of group groups and the networks provide
vention policy. In the U.K. several nation- The bereavement services are offered brochures describing their activities.
wide organisations (such as Compassio- in mostly two formats, open (membership Internet
nate Friends) with numerous local con- keeps changing), closed (membership The national networks in Belgium,
tacts are operational. The establishment stays the same, frequently for a limited Germany, Finland, France, Ireland, Nor-
of a national network in Belgium started number of meetings. Some agencies also way, Sweden, and the U.K, and some
in the year 2000 and this has led to a large offered individual meetings as well. individual groups in Austria, Belgium,
increase of the number of services. France In Austria, France, Germany, Norway France, Germany, and the Netherlands
showed a mixed picture, with both local and the U.K. primarily open groups were have websites providing information on
services and nation-wide organisations, conducted, while closed groups were more the available services, upcoming events,
all functioning in the national platform common in The Netherlands. Both types etc. In addition, in Austria, Belgium, and
of suicide prevention. were equally available in Belgium and Switzerland, information on all self-help
Comparison of the availability of suicide Switzerland. Some of the groups and net- groups is available in national ngo-data-
survivor services and the degree of net- works reported they also offer individual bases.
work development with the actual suicide support, both by telephone, and by face-
to-face meetings. Concluding remark of the survey
rates in these countries indicates there
is no relation between the two. Suicide As a result of our survey we can say that,
Facilitators to enable maximum development, it
survivor services are most available in Group leadership was either by peer
northern and northwestern Europe, seems beneficial (1) to develop a national
(a survivor), mental health professional, suicide survivor network linked with
suggesting that socio-economic and cul- or both.
tural conditions are the primary determi- community resources, (2) to link with
Predominantly peer-facilitated programs contacts in other countries and (3) to
ning factors for the current distribution were found in Austria and Germany, while
of survivor services. sustain suicide survivor activities within
predominantly professional-facilitated a national prevention policy.
The number of agencies providing be- programs were found in Belgium, France
reavement services varied widely in each and The Netherlands. Ireland, Norway, Meetings of the taskforce
country, with on the one hand some coun- and Switzerland had approximately the Last year during the XXIIth IASP Con-
tries estimated as many as approximately same number of peer-led and professional- gress in Stockholm, 10–14 September
300 in the U.K. and reported 97 in Nor- led groups. 2003, the Taskforce held its first open
way, while on the other hand a significant Agencies facilitated by both peers and meeting and welcomed 16 participants
number of countries reported that the professionals could be found in Belgium, from four continents (America, Europe,
initiation of such services were ‘in Ireland, Norway, Sweden, The Nether- Asia and Australia & New Zealand).
preparation’. lands, and the United Kingdom. Firstly, we looked at expectations of par-
Those agencies in operation indicated It should be noted that many of the peers ticipants regarding the Taskforce. Major
they had offered service to a total of 6,314 (or volunteers) are paraprofessionals, expectations were to have more contacts
survivors in one year. However, not all indicating some formal training or some and to exchange information. Further,
groups and networks provided an estimate level of experience, or both. Also, many participants felt a need for more evalua-
of their caller load. An educated guess of the peer-facilitated initiatives employ tion and research for psychotherapeutic
of the total number could be approxi- a mental health professional back-up. work, group work and community work.
mately 10,000 a year, obviously a distress-
Fees Topics that were discussed included:
ingly small percentage of the number in
Sources of support for the agencies va- experiences with starting a survivor group
need of the services.
ried, coming from regular fees, donations, and community linking; organising a
contributions and grants. Clerical assis- discussion forum (web page) on post-
Forts. s. 31
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