THIS week is all about connections. Over the next two days Australians will be reminded of the importance of connections as we mark World Suicide Prevention Day today and R U OK? Day tomorrow.

The theme for World Suicide Prevention Day this year is ‘‘one world connected’’ – an apt theme given that last week the World Health Organisation released its first global report on suicide prevention to raise awareness of the issue internationally. And while it was a landmark report, the truth is that it did not reveal anything we didn’t know already in Australia.

While further research is needed, we have good evidence for a range of strategies that work in suicide prevention, for health services, communities and public policy. We must connect  this  to our practice.

We need to better connect our collective concern for suicide with action in suicide prevention, at the local and national level.

We need to better connect our workforces in suicide prevention to the development and support they need to do their jobs well.

We need to connect people with experience of suicide with our policy makers, researchers and service providers to review and improve our approaches.

We need to connect communities with the resources to build their capacity in suicide prevention.

We need to connect people with the right services at the right time.

And we need to connect people with each other, so they may never need those services at all.

There can be very few people whose lives have not been touched  by suicide – they have thought about suicide, attempted suicide, lost someone they know to suicide or had friends or colleagues affected.

This year, I will stay in Newcastle for this week to connect with home –  the place and the people that mean the most to me.

Today I will join Lifeline Newcastle and Hunter and people of our region to share our wisdom on what is working, and reflect on the journey ahead for services and communities as we work to reduce suicide and its impacts.

Tomorrow morning I will be beachside at Nobbys celebrating R U OK? Day with my fellow Novocastrians, and in the afternoon, I will be giving myself a break from my daily routine to connect with others.  A great day to put the focus on mateship and take the time to ask a friend, family member, colleague or even a complete stranger ‘‘R U OK?’’.

Our connection to others is what builds us up and keeps us strong.  Having people sit beside us when times are good and when times are bad can make all the difference.

So this week I encourage people to reach out and connect – with their community, with services, with people.

For more information on how to ask R U OK, visit www.ruok.org.au.

For more information on how to talk about suicide, visit conversationsmatter.com.au.

This article first appeared on ‘Newcastle Herald‘ on 9 September 2014.