Collective Impact – delivering a new approach
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Suicide is a deep, dark issue characterised by complexity and multiple causes. With no clear solution, the responsibility lies with the government, the community and society as a whole.
The complexity of this issue is often overshadowed by a focus on mental health. Certainly mental health, or rather ill-health, has a significant place in many people’s decision to think, plan and take their own life, but it is not the only factor.
Suicide Prevention Australia (SPA) agrees strongly with the World Health Organisation and the National Mental Health Commission that suicide prevention requires an innovative, comprehensive, multi-sectoral approach, involving both health and non-health sectors.
We face the challenge of understanding and prioritising where we need to focus our efforts. What is it that will work most effectively? What are the gaps in knowledge? What are the strengths of the Australian research community and how can these best be utilised to deliver new knowledge relevant to the Australian context?
The challenges and the lack of progress in reducing deaths from suicide across the population mean that we must change the way we work. That change is already on the agenda – SPA is leading its implementation through the National Coalition for Suicide Prevention which has been created within the principles and framework of Collective Impact.
First published in Stanford Social Innovation Review in 2011, Collective Impact is a structured and sophisticated approach much more valuable than the sum of its parts. It’s shown great promise in communities in the United States (US) by addressing intractable social problems with the most successful initiatives by engaging all three sectors. Members of the National Coalition firmly believe that it has potential to make a difference in suicide prevention.
