Featuring – PIHW Academic Advisor – Dr Adam Bourne
LGBTIQ+ Health Australia held a panel to explore the recently released Lean on Me report from La Trobe University. The report revealed that the responsibility for providing suicide prevention in LGBTQ communities in Melbourne frequently falls on peers with little or no training in responding to a mental health crisis. This ARCSHS report, funded by North Western Melbourne Primary Health Network (NWMPHN), explores how LGBTQ individuals experiencing mental health concerns turn to their peers.
The panel explored the ways that suicide prevention and mental health-related peer support is extensive and vital in LGBTQ communities in Melbourne. Such informal support can involve a person being there for a friend, partner, colleague or even a stranger during a mental health crisis, including when they are suicidal. The study drew from data collected in qualitative interviews with 25 people living in metropolitan Melbourne, Australia, and identifying as LGBTQ.