Ethics approval number: A181180
The aim of this project is to identify the values, attitudes and beliefs towards depression and suicide and its treatment on the Sunshine Coast. Responses collected through a survey will be used to inform suicide prevention activities as part of an evidence-based Alliance for Suicide Prevention.
To achieve this goal, we need people in our community to participate in the project.
Participant eligibility
- 16 years old or above
- Sunshine Cost resident
- proficient in spoken and written English
Contact the Alliance if you are unsure if you are eligible to participate.
What the project involves
Participation in the survey will take 20 minutes to complete. Survey questions will focus on participant’s values, attitudes, and beliefs towards mental illness, help seeking behaviours, and confidence in the resources available on the Sunshine Coast. Depression, anxiety, and suicidality will be the conditions focused on in this survey.
There are minimal risks associated with participation in this project. Research has demonstrated discussing suicide does not increase the risk of suicide. Nevertheless, the survey may raise some sensitive questions and/or distressing feelings surrounding suicide and mental health due to the nature of the subject matter. The survey has been designed in a way to mitigate this risk, however, if participants require support, contact details for Lifeline (131114) and 1300 MH CALL (1300 64 22 55) will be provided at the beginning and end of the survey. Participants will be encouraged to seek help should they be worried about their own mental health or the mental health of someone close to them.
Participants who complete the online survey will be eligible to go in the draw to win one of three $100 gift vouchers.
This survey will be repeated in 2020 to assess the impact of this wider intervention on general awareness regarding depression and suicide on the Sunshine Coast.
Project results
Results from this survey will be used to inform the development of a community-focused Alliance for Suicide Prevention. Specifically, information regarding the local community’s general awareness surrounding suicide and related mental health issues (i.e., depression and anxiety) will be used to identify any educational needs for specific regions or demographic groups. The results will also be used to identify any maladaptive values, attitudes, and beliefs impeding help seeking behaviour on the Sunshine Coast, and efforts will be made to address these through further consultations with the community and key stakeholders (e.g., general practitioners, allied health, people with lived experience). Through community-based education, it is anticipated that help seeking behaviours will improve due to increased awareness and community acceptance surrounding mental health.
The results from this survey will also be used as a ‘baseline’ for the general awareness regarding mental health on the Sunshine Coast. The Sunshine Coast Mind & Neuroscience – Thompson Institute suicide prevention program is aiming to implement a community-wide suicide prevention program in 2019 which will target general awareness, general practitioner training, support for high risk groups, and gatekeeper training.
Participants will not be able to request information about individual data but are welcome to request a summary of the collective research findings on completion of the study by contacting the research team. Latest news and collective results will be disseminated through the Alliance News.
Privacy and confidentiality
By participating in this project, a participant gives consent for their assessment results (called ‘data’) to be used in this project and related future projects. A consent form will be signed at the beginning of the program participation. Only non-identifiable data is used. Non-identifiable data is data that has had all personal details removed (so there is no way to link a participant to the data). Any identifiable information provided will remain confidential, and will not be disclosed without permission.
A participant will not be named in any reports or publications resulting from the research project. Any publications based on the research project will include only pooled results from all the participants, so results will not be singled out.
Informed consent
For more information refer to the Research Project Information Sheet (PDF 151KB)*
* For PDF documents you must have the free Adobe Acrobat Reader, which can be downloaded from the Adobe Download Page.