A group of volunteers, who have been suicidal or bereaved by suicide, have created a film for health and care staff, to share their insight and thoughts on good practice within mental health services. One volunteer praised the project as ‘liberating and empowering’.
A group of volunteers with direct experience of the impact of suicide have bravely opened up to share their insight and thoughts on good practice within mental health services. The group, featuring people who have been suicidal and/or bereaved by suicide, have created the following film for all staff who work in health and care, about their experiences.
The work is part of a ‘coproduction’ project commissioned by WY HCP’s Suicide Prevention Programme and led by Leeds Mind, to bring the voice of lived experience into suicide prevention decision-making and planning. One of the volunteers who took part, Alyson Daley, said the project has helped her and others “feel heard and seen”.
She said: “This experience has been liberating and empowering, which you may feel are unusual words to use when discussing this topic. Yet, what we are doing is helping people feel heard and seen. I know personally I feel I have found my voice by being given one through this project. Through utilising lived experiences, you gain real and raw insight into the struggles and stigma surrounding mental health challenges, with the real aims of changing systems and procedures in the mental health arena. This is why it is so important to involve us experts by lived experience and believe it is the way forward. This project has given the voice to so many that have been silenced; ones who can make a difference with partnerships such as these.”