A group of young people in Cork have participated in a training programme to help them listen and support other young people who might be in difficultly or crisis.

The 'Peer Support and Education' initiative, the first programme of its kind in Ireland, was completed by a group of eight young people in Midleton, Co. Cork. Developed by the Southern Health Board's (SHB) Mental Health Resource Officer, Brenda Crowley and NTDI Psychologist, Mary Boylan, the pilot project was run one evening a week over the course of five weeks.

The aim of the course was to help participants develop their listening and communication skills so that they might help other young people, who are in some sort of difficulty or crisis, in a practical and logical way. "Everyone of us communicates with our friends, families, work colleagues, etc. on a daily basis. What the course has enabled me to do is to really listen to someone. It might sound obvious, but we did a lot of role play during the course, working on different scenarios and all of us were amazed at the difference that really listening to someone or asking a question at the right time, could make. I suppose the other really powerful message, was that we are not there to solve people's problems, but to listen to them and perhaps get them thinking about options available to them," said Aidan, one of the course participants.

A range of topics around developing communication and listening skills were covered over the course of the five weeks. Participants took part in role-play, so that a number of 'real' events and scenarios could be identified and talked through.

Local GP Dr. Brian Jordan, who was instrumental in bringing the group together, said, "A number of young people who had been directly affected by suicide contacted me with a view to doing something in the locality around suicide prevention. They had lost family and friends to suicide and wanted to do something to help them understand the problem better and explore how they might possibly prevent other young people taking their own lives. I contacted the Southern Health Board to discuss with Brenda Crowley what we might put in place. Out of this, the Peer Support training came about."

The SHB's course was based on a similar model that has been used in Canada in both the school and prison systems, and was piloted in Midleton because of the interest expressed by the young people in the community.

Course participant Gillian said, "Everyone who did the course has been affected by suicide, so we are all very aware of how suicide affects not just immediate family and fiends but an entire community. We felt quite strongly about being proactive is some way."

Brenda Crowley, Resource Officer, SHB said, "Too many lives are affected by suicide and the SHB has looked at the most appropriate and sensitive ways to address this problem. As a Board we are very serious about helping people affected by suicide and this training looks at helping young people to help other young people who may not be able to solve their problems without some help or support. This particular group have all experienced the tragedy of suicide, yet they were so open and receptive to the ideas we put forward; it was a privilege to work with them."


For further information, please contact:

Communications Department,
Health Service Executive (Southern Region),
Wilton Road,
Cork.

The department is open from 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday.

Telephone: 021-4923733



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