Citation

Beautrais A. Psychiatr. Danub. 2006; 18(Suppl 1): 108.

Affiliation

Canterbury Suicide Project, Christchurch School of Medicine and Health Sciences, PO Box 4345, 8001 Christchurch, New Zealand. suicide@chmeds.ac.nz.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2006, Facultas Universitatis Studiorum Zagrabiensis - Danube Symposion of Psychiatry)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

16964056

Abstract

Victim Support is a national organisation in New Zealand whose volunteer workers provide support and assistance to victims of trauma and crime. In particular, the Victim Support programme provides an immediate response, and often support in the following weeks, to families bereaved by suicide. This paper reports findings from a study of 110 Victim Support workers from the Canterbury, New Zealand, region, who were personally interviewed in early 2006 to obtain information about their characteristics, volunteer motivations, and experiences of providing support to families bereaved by suicide. We use this information to describe characteristics of this volunteer first response workforce for suicide-bereaved families, and to identify training and information needs, and needs for support and debriefing. These features contribute to the personal satisfaction and retention of the first response workers, and to the extent to which they are able to offer helpful support to people bereaved by suicide.

Language: en