Towards good practice: Standards and guidelines for suicide bereavement support group

Towards Good Practice: Standards and Guidelines for Suicide Bereavement Support Groups was developed by Lifeline Australia and others to support those who develop, facilitate, or participate in suicide bereavement support groups. The Standards and Guidelines provide a voluntary code of conduct to assist in the development of support group services and review of support group quality, safety and effectiveness. These standards can provide a useful benchmark against which suicide bereavement support groups can be examined, improved and validated.
The Standards and Guidelines are organized into four topic areas:
• Establishment and maintenance.
• Philosophy and processes.
• Facilitation and management.
• Services.
While the Standards and Guidelines were developed specifically for use by suicide bereavement support groups, they could also provide practice guidance in other support group settings or for other suicide bereavement services.
Objective: Users of the Standards and Guidelines should have increased knowledge of research and practitioner-based support group guidelines and standards.