The Tele-Check program (Staff)

Project commencement date:

Project completion date:

Researcher/Contact: Martin Harris
Members: Phillips Baden, Loraine Bell

Project Overview

The Tele-Check program was funded through the National Suicide Prevention Strategy. It operated within the strategic plan established for rural health services on the West Coast, involving collaborative partnerships between a range of health care providers. The UDRH was responsible for developing the Tele-Check Technique training material and providing that training to personnel recruited under the program. This complemented the services on the West Coast provided at the time by Lifeline and Red Cross Outreach; however a key feature of the Technique was the proactive telephone contact with individuals who had been referred to program personnel, rather than the usual provision of response to incoming calls.

Project Aim

• Health service providers identifying those individuals who may benefit from proactive contact;
• Determining the needs within a community, and the capacity of that community to respond;
• Developing intervention and training strategies relevant to the identified needs;
• Creating a referral and assessment network for health professionals.

As the program operated within the framework of existing services on the West Coast, there was considerable collaboration between health professionals and providers in order to achieve common objectives. The expected completion for this component of the TeleCheck program was September 2006, however extension funding was granted until June 2007 to allow scaling of the program to accommodate other rural and remote communities in Tasmania.