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Paolo: Embracing our Samoan Communities - Suicide Prevention Information for People working with Samoans in Niu Sila 001620
Samoan Suicide Prevention Resource - bilingual Samoan/English.
Why Paolo?
The resource was developed because a gap was identified in the information available to Pacific Island communities on suicide prevention.
Pacific people have higher rates of thinking seriously about suicide than other ethnicities apart from Maori who have the highest rate. Also, NZ-born Pacific people have higher rates of previous attempts and suicidal thoughts than Pacific people who migrated at the age of 18 and over.
This Samoan specific resource was identified as a need among the Samoan community. The process of creating Paolo was uniquely Samoan, undertaken with national consultation and based on the values, beliefs and world view of the Samoan people in a context that was meaningful to them. The resource is bilingual Samoan/English and all those involved in its development including the design team are Samoan.
Key messages
Although this resource is not an intervention tool, it is designed to help support the work of both communities and clinicians working with Samoan people who need help.
The intention of Paolo is the minimisation of suicide among the Samoan population in New Zealand and the key messages delivered in the publication are:
- Suicide and mental illness can be an issue for the Samoan community and we're addressing it in a proactive way.
- The Samoan experience of mental illness could be quite different from other population groups.
- Suicide is preventable.
- Recognising vulnerabilities and risk factors.
- Suicide effects the whole population.
- How to respond to those who are seeking help.
- Developing good communication structures through families.
- Addressing the communication break down and culture gap between generations in Samoan families.
42 Pages
Publisher: Mental Health Foundation of New Zealand
Date: 2007
