The Community Response to Eliminating Suicide (CORES) training program was developed in the rural community of Kentish, in Tasmania, and has been operating since 2003 within Tasmania. It was developed by the community, for the community, and people with ‘Lived Experience’ were involved from the onset. Volunteer Peer Facilitators were trained to deliver the one-day course and this provided sustainability of the program. CORES Networks were set up in each target area, driven by those volunteer Peer Facilitators who engaged community members and local service providers to support the Network. CORES Community Networks are currently operating in Kentish, Circular Head, Meander Valley, West Tamar, Central Coast, Burnie/Wynyard, Launceston and Devonport.
In 2007 Kentish Regional Clinic Inc. (KRC) was formed to manage the CORES program and it was at this time the program became national. KRC consists of a National Board of Directors governing the integrity and viability of the CORES programs. Any changes to the CORES Programs can only be made by the Chief Executive Officer, in consultation with the KRC Board.
In 2008, the first training took place in the Shire of Burdekin, north Queensland, with the Burdekin and Hinchinbrook Networks established in 2009. A Coordinator was employed in 2011 and the following Networks were established: Innisfail, Charters Towers, McKinlay/Cloncurry, Whitsundays, Central Queensland, Wide Bay and Sunshine Coast, Townsville and Palm Island. Over 4000 people have been trained in Queensland.
Networks are operating in Riverland, South Australia and Hay, New South Wales.
Purpose:
The training will provide the essential skills to identify and respond to a person at risk of suicide and build on a communities capacity to eliminate suicide. Participants will learn how to support a person at risk to develop their own safety plan and access appropriate services.
Aims:
- To recognise the warning signs of suicide
- To learn how to support a person at risk to access appropriate services and to develop their own safety plan
- To promote help-seeking behaviour before a crisis occurs
- For each participant to identify and develop their own self-care strategies and personalised safety plan
Since COVID-19, we received many requests to develop a specific workshop from the self-care and mental wellbeing components of our full day CORES Suicide Prevention Training. We developed our CORES Self Care and Mental Wellbeing Workshops and they were launched in November 2020. We have since received funding from the Mental Health Council of Tasmania to deliver 16 workshops between February and end of June 2021.
Purpose:
This two-hour self-care and mental wellbeing workshop will provide the skills and resources to develop an individualised self-care and mental wellbeing plan that encompasses activities to enhance physical, emotional and mental health on a daily basis.
The workshop will explore the concept of self-care and mental wellbeing, how to identify personal signs of stress and simple strategies that can be used to manage individual stress levels on an everyday basis.
Aims:
- To identify individual stresses and struggles
- To develop a self-care and mental wellbeing plan
- To identify personal supports and resources
