About the Project

Passionfolk was engaged by Western Victorian Primary Health Network (WVPHN) to develop and deliver a multi-faceted community awareness campaign for the Great South Coast, following the conclusion of the Great South Coast Suicide Prevention Place Based Trial (GSCSPPBT).

The campaign commenced in February 2022 and ran into July 2022.

Suicide prevention is a shared focus of the Victorian Government Department of Health and Human Services and the Primary Health Networks, an Australian Government initiative. In 2020, the Western Victorian Primary Health Network’s Great South Coast Suicide Prevention Place Based Trial (GSCSPPBT), a joint commitment between the Western Victoria Primary Health Network (PHN) and the Victorian Government that recognises the benefits of collaborative approaches to suicide prevention was launched. A leadership advisory committee led by representatives from local health sector organisations, community leaders and people with lived experience identified key suicide prevention activities informed by regional information and needs.

The trial comprised 12 separate initiatives and aimed to:

• Reduce the rates of suicide

• Reduce suicide attempts

• Improve resilience and wellbeing

• Improve systems to prevent suicide in an ongoing way

From the 12 projects, Passionfolk was engaged to communicate 8 of the completed initiatives. These included: GPs & key stakeholders; Young Men’s Health & Wellbeing; Men’s Health & Wellbeing; Farmer Health & Wellbeing; START Suicide Prevention Training; Youth Health & Wellbeing; Teen & Youth Mental Health First Aid Expansion; Yarning Circle Expansion.

The campaign messaging prioritised the completed trials that had a clear outcome (i.e. call to action to support at-risk populations) first, as well as focusing on the entire program (rationale, development, trial activities, outcomes) throughout all communications.

Our Approach

Our objective was to inform and engage with community members of the Great South Coast (GSC) to raise their knowledge about the suicide prevention trial place-based activities in the region. The five communities of the GSC are: Corangamite, Glenelg, Moyne, Southern Grampians and Warrnambool.

Our PR Activation included:

• Communicated 'good news' stories across the 12 projects within the GSC Suicide Prevention Place Based Trial.

• This was done through careful analysis and dissemination of each of the 12 trial projects to put the information and outcomes into media-friendly messaging

• Campaign materials that were distributed as: media releases, social media tiles (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn), pitches to radio stations and relevant podcasts, flyers/posters and spotlight style participant profiles.

• Comprehensive lists were developed to identify relevant media channels, organisations, schools and community groups.

• Created social media posts to be deployed through WVPHN and partner channels

• A PR & social schedule was developed and executed, integrated with WVPHN's usual schedule.