Suicide Prevention in Specific Populations

Preventing suicide in specific populations & settings

Addiction

Men

Assisted Dying
Older People

FROM SAD BLOKES TO WELL MEN: Changing the focus in preventing male suicide

It's time for a serious rethink in how we prevent male suicide and to take suicide in men out of the too hard basket

Well men matter

  • It matters that men are able to optimise their wellbeing.
  • It matters that men are over-represented in poor mental health and suicide statistics.
  • Well men contribute to a well society. And equally unwell men affect the wellbeing of our society.
BE PART OF THE SOLUTION
From anxious boys through to lonely old men: Tracking male suicide across the lifespan.Are traditional notions of masculinity meeting the needs of men in 2026? How the changes in men’s roles and identity contribute to suicide in men.A vision for men’s wellbeing: An holistic approach to conceptualising men’s wellbeing and key mental wellbeing messages for men. Hear a comprehensive critique of why the suicide rate in men continues to remain high despite numerous prevention initiatives, the reasons why we need to focus more on men and what are proven effective strategies for preventing male suicide.
Drawing on his lived experience and his extensive experience in engaging, assessing and supporting suicidal men of different cultures, age groups, genders and sexualities, Barry offers practical and time proven approaches to preventing male suicide, engaging with a suicidal man and effective initiatives to optimise men's wellbeing.
"Helping men and boys to transition from sad blokes to well men must be our focus."
A critical aspect of effective suicide prevention initiatives is the need to examine the underlying assumptions that shape our understanding of male suicide and whether these assumptions accurately reflect the realities faced by men in 2026. This necessitates a fundamental shift in our approach, emphasising the importance of guiding men on a journey toward well-being. The goal is to transition from a focus on suicidal individuals to fostering well men.
For men to thrive, it is essential for them to develop a positive understanding of their cultural and gender identities—one that enhances their dignity (mana) and enriches their lives with a strong sense of purpose and meaning. Furthermore, they should be committed to their own well-being and that of their whānau, while also being equipped with strength-based strategies to navigate periods of distress and crisis.
This workshop applies both sociological and gender analyses to enhance our understanding of suicide among men. It explores the cumulative impact of various social, cultural, and economic determinants—such as shifts in gender roles and expectations, labor market participation, economic reforms, and relationship status—on men’s sense of identity and purpose, ultimately affecting their well-being and contributing to the rise in suicide rates. When assessing suicide risk in men, it is essential to consider social and cultural factors, including ethnicity, age, and sexuality, as well as social and economic disparities, colonization, and intergenerational trauma. These elements are equally important as psychological factors in understanding this complex issue.
Topics include:
  • Overview of suicide in men
  • The Suicidal Moment - Men's thoughts, emotions and behaviour in the "suicidal moment”
  • Masculinity for the 21st Century - Are traditional notions of masculinity meeting the needs of men in 2026?  How the changes in men’s roles and identity contribute to suicide in men.
  • Intergenerational suicide among men and its impact of whānau and hapū
  • From anxious boys through to lonely old men: Tracking male suicide across the lifespan
  • A vision for men’s wellbeing: An holistic approach to conceptualising men’s wellbeing and key mental wellbeing messages for men.
What others have said about the workshop
"This workshop should be compulsory for anyone working with men”
Male Family Violence Worker
"The incorporation of Te Ao Māori into the training was excellent and made it relevant to the men I work with”
Kaiwhakatere
"It was as if Barry was talking about every young man I see at school”
School Counsellor
"I have much better understanding about depressed and suicidal men. Going away with lots of ideas of how work with the men in my community”
Rural Support Worker
"Thanks for being inclusive of older men. They are so often forgotten”
Aged Care Worker
"Appreciated how inclusive the presenter was of different cultures and his analysis of how culture influences what it means to be a man”
Refugee Settlement Worker
Workshop Dates 2026
(Click on date for online registration)
Location
Date
Location
Date
Tāmaki Makaurau - Auckland
Ōtepoti - Dunedin
Kirikiriroa - Hamilton
Ngāmotu - New Plymouth
Online
Tauranga
Whanganui-a-Tara - Wellington
Whangārei-te-rerenga-parāoa - Whangārei

GREY NOT BLUE: Depression & suicide in older people

This workshop is specifically designed for those who work with older people in community or residential settings in the NZ context.
There are some suicide risk factors that are particular to older people yet rarely are included in suicide risk assessment tools nor covered in suicide prevention training.
Many general population suicide prevention and mental wellbeing campaigns do not or inadequately address the unique contributing factors to depression and suicide in older people.
Studies indicate that the aged care sector is underprepared, the workforce under skilled and there lacks leadership to champion effective prevention strategies and promoting wellbeing in older people.
It is critical that those working with older people are:
  • knowledgeable about the latest research and understanding of suicide in older people
  • confident and competent in responding to the depressed or suicidal older person
  • able to implement a suicide postvention response and provide support for those impacted by a suicide death
Suicide in the over-65 age group is more prevalent than commonly understood. Recent statistics indicate a rising trend in suicide among the elderly. Often under-reported, depression and suicide are significant mental health concerns for this demographic.
An emerging mental health concern for Retirement Villages and Aged Care Facilities
As the baby boomer generation ages, many will enjoy reasonable physical health. However mental health issues particularly depression will become more prevalent. This is not just a concern for primary care or aged care facilities but requires serious consideration by management and staff in retirement villages. A study of suicide locations in New Zealand found that aged care facilities and retirement villages were the most common places where older people killed themselves. This has implications for family, staff and other residents.
Older People Suicide vs Assisted DyingAn understanding of the distinction between assisted dying and suicidality in older people is crucial for those working with older people. The workshop will cover the complex interrelationship of factors the between suicidality and assisted dying. The identification of suicide in older people and engaging with and supporting the suicidal older person are the main focus of this workshop.
Placing suicide in older people in a social context, workshop participants will examine the factors that promote wellbeing and those that contribute to depression and suicide. Topics such a loss, redundancy and futility, loneliness and isolation, elder abuse, quality of life, terminal illness and assisted dying will be covered.
Topics covered:
  • Grey not blue - Overview of depression and life stressors in older person and the risk for suicide
  • The silent suffering - Social determinants of suicide in older people
  • Identifying suicidal thinking and behaviour in older person
  • Suicidal behaviour vs Assisted Dying
  • Promoting mental wellbeing in older people
  • Support strategies for older people who are suicidal
  • Workers who are often best positioned to identify those at risk and provide necessary support and interventions are:
  • Primary health professionals
  • Elder abuse workers,
  • Counsellors
  • Mental Health staff (primary and secondary services)
  • Mental health NGO services
  • Community-based older people advocates and programme facilitators
  • Personal care and home help support workers
  • Aged care workers
  • Residential Villagers staff
  • Chaplains, clergy and pastoral care workers
What others have said about the workshop
“A must attend for anyone working with older people. Learnt heaps”
Aged CARE WORKER
"This is the first workshop I have attended that has provided such a comprehensive coverage of suicide in older people. Could see so many of the factors in the people I see”
ELDER ABUSE WORKER
“Thank you so much for sharing your knowlege and passion. I leave with a new determination in my work”
older person mental health nurse
“Absolutely fantastic. Best training I have been to in a long time. So much to take back to my staff”
DIRECTOR OF NURSING AGED CARE FACILITY
“This workshop is long overdue. For far too long the issues you raised have not been addressed”
OLDER PERSON ADVOCATE
"Appreciated the way you did not pathologise the aging process and provided a useful model to understand suicide and depression in an appropriate context"
GERIATRICIAN
Workshop Dates 2026
(Click on date for online registration)
Location
Date
Location
Date
Tāmaki Makaurau - Auckland
Ōtautahi
Ōtepoti - Dunedin
Kirikiriroa - Hamilton
Waihōpai - Invercargill
Whakatū - Nelson
Online
Te Papa-i-Oea - Palmerston North
Tauranga
Whanganui-a-Tara - Wellington

HIGH & SUICIDAL: The compounding factor of addiction in suicidal people

A workshop especially designed for those working in the Addictions sector and for the Aotearoa-New Zealand context
Addiction and suicide are on the same continuum of ways to numb out the internal "psych pain" , often as part of a self destructive path.
The correlation between suicide and the use of alcohol just prior to the attempt has been long known. But this misuse does not necessarily indicate the suicidal person was living with addiction and the addiction was the "reason" for the suicide.
This workshop offers a comprehensive analysis of the association between addiction and suicidality. The analysis will look at how different substances (alcohol, cannabis and meth) contribute to suicide risk and influence the "suicidal moment" Explore in more detail how addiction compounds suicide risk and how this impacts on the way suicide risk is assessed. Understand why the narratives of people who are suicidal and those who live with addiction can often become intertwined and what happens when the narratives become one.
Not offered in 2026
This workshop is not being offered in 2026 but can be delivered on request. Make contact to discuss the possibility of having the workshops being delivered in your organisation or community. The workshop can be adapted to develop a tailor-made training programme to meet your community’s or organisation’s specific needs.
Become equipped to proactively engage with a suicidal narrative and be able to respond to the disclosure of suicide using a wellbeing framework as opposed to deficit remediation model - compassionate changemaking and being custodians of hope.
Become familiar with how suicide manifests itself in the recovery journey, Topics covered:
  • Psych pain, Addiction and Suicidality - Different but the same
  • What's the risk - Unpacking addiction as a compounding suicide risk factor
  • When someone mentions suicide - engaging with the suicidal client with the scope of practice of addiction workforce.
  • The acuteness of suicidality in the recovery journey - the reasons why
  • When a client suicides in therapeutic or residential settings - mitigating the risk for suicide contagion
Email for further information

Suicide and Assisted Dying: The difference is more than just wording

While the narrative of a suicidal person may be similar to someone wishing to take up the option of assisted dying when at the end stage of a terminal illness, they are quite different in meaning and require different responses and interventions.
While the narrative of a suicidal person may be similar to someone wishing to take up the option of assisted dying when at the end stage of a terminal illness, they are quite different in meaning and require different responses and interventions.
The End of Life Choice Act, which legalised assisted dying, came into force in 2021. The previous year’s public referendum prompted a significant debate on whether individuals have the right to end their lives at their own discretion and, if so, under what circumstances. This debate presented a range of philosophical, moral, legal and ethical challenges. It also highlighted the common misconception that assisted dying is synonymous with suicide.
Understanding the distinction between assisted dying and suicidality is crucial for those working with older people and those with a terminal illness. The workshop will cover the complex interrelationship of factors the distinction between suicidality and assisted dying and the appropriate responses and interventions for each.
The meaning of death for a suicidal person is not singular, ranging from a desire to escape intolerable psychological distress to the existential sense that life lacks purpose or meaning. For individuals with chronic mental illness or non-terminal conditions such as chronic pain, the lack of quality of life can sometimes be perceived as a justification for ending one’s life. This often presents a dilemma in distinguishing between assisted dying and suicide and can be challenging for counsellors and clinicians. This workshop will focus on these difficult conversations.
Designed for professionals in settings such as aged care, hospice, palliative care, illness-specific organisations (e.g. Cancer Society) and loss and grief support services, this workshop enables participants to collectively examine assisted dying or suicide from the perspectives of duty care, the ethics and legal obligations informing good practice in suicide prevention and the philosophy of palliative and hospice care. Topics Include:
  • The phenomenon of suicide – its meaning and the narrative of despair
  • Assisted Dying - What it is and why it is such a dilemma
  • Conversations about ending one's life - what has been learnt from suicide prevention
  • Drawing the line – who we allow to voluntarily end their life and those we don’t
  • When does it stop being assisted dying and becomes suicidality?
  • Quality of life - an existential motivator for living
  • Depression and dying
The workshop draws on the presenter’s experience supporting people dying of AIDS, which often involved discussions about their death and their desire to decide on the timing and manner of their dying These discussions necessitated Barry to examine his own attitudes towards assisted dying, particularly in light of his work in suicide prevention. From his reflections, research on assisted dying and listening to both suicidal individuals and those dying have enabled him to develop a conceptual model that examines the similarities and differences between suicidality and assisted dying.
Designed specifically for those working in settings such as aged care, hospice, palliative care, illness specific organisations (e.g. Cancer Society) and loss and grief support services, this workshop allows for those from these sectors to collectively examine assisted dying or suicide from the perspctive of legal and ethical issues such as duty care and the philosopy that informs palliative and hospice care. Rather than the presentation of definitive answers, the workshop is an opportunity for participants to explore the complexity and the tensions that arise in both suicide and assisted dying. There will be opportunity for open discussion and the raising of legal, ethical and moral issues for group consideration.
Workshop Date 2026
(Click on date for online registration)
Online
Mondays: 9.30am - 12.30pm 10, 17 & 24 August
In-House Delivery
This workshop can be delivered in-house on request. Make contact to discuss the possibility of having the workshop being delivered in your organisation or community. The workshop can be adapted to develop a tailor-made training programme to meet your community’s or organisation’s specific needs.
Email for further information
What others have said about the workshop
"Inspiring workshop. Your sensitive and considered presentation facilitated open and respectful discussion. We need more workshops like this.” 
HOSPITAL SOCIAL WORKER
"The way you have conceptualised and presented the differences between assisted dying and suicide has clarified my own thinking and how to respond when this issues arise in counselling.”
HOSPICE COUNSELLOR
"Loved the way you allowed for all points of view to be shared and that you didn't impose a singular point of view on whether it is assisted dying or assisted suicide."
PALLIATIVE CARE nurse
"Your sharing of your learnings from your work with suicidal people on how to sensitively talk to someone who wishes to end of life was so helpful. I feel I will be more confident in having these discussions in the future.”
PALLIATIVE CARE REGISTRAR
"Strongly agree that we need to do much more thinking about assisted dying in an aged care facility. Will be recommending this workshop to colleagues."
DIRECTOR OF NURSING AGED CARE FACILITY
"Great workshop. All hospital chaplains should attend this workshop. Your approach fits in really well with pastoral ministry.”
HOSPITAL CHAPLAIN

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