This presentation reports narrative evaluation of the impact of a locally developed community capacity building event for supporting people bereaved by suicide. The event combines lived experience, research and community action in a safe public discussion for better understanding suicide loss. While grief is a starting point for exploring the experience of being bereaved by suicide the way in which grief and trauma intersect and are overlaid by stigma are crucial to gaining a deeper understanding.
The ripple effect of suicide loss across our communities points to the need for courage in building collective capacity for better understanding and effectively supporting people bereaved by suicide.
The project uses narrative research as a story telling approach to evaluation. Narrative evaluation is especially suited to sensitive topics and has been used to good effect in postvention community capacity building. A key element of the approach being to acknowledge people’s agency in the crafting of their own story.
Narrative evaluation enables an assessment of the theory of change underpinning collective community action from the perspective of people benefitting from and enacting, the intended change. The theory of change in this instance being that building community capacity for understanding and responding to suicide loss will benefit people directly bereaved by suicide in strengthening agency for constructive grief alongside strengthening capacity for formal and informal supporters to provide proactive and effective support cognisant of societal stigma and taboo.
The research findings indicate a range of benefits for people attending the community event from different perspectives.
People directly bereaved by suicide report increased feelings of wellbeing and social connection as well as greater understandings of the experience and strengthened sense of agency in meaning making and continuing bonds for constructive grief.
People in a position to offer informal support report increased compassion for people bereaved by suicide and increased confidence in providing informal support as well as a sense of relief in knowing what to do.
People in formal support roles, various service providers that are in areas of prevention and postvention suicide support, report an increased awareness and knowledge of the experience of being bereaved by suicide which led to increased confidence, understanding and effectiveness in supporting people bereaved by suicide.
The research supports notions of collective community action for better supporting people bereaved by suicide.