Marc Gehrmann (The Science of Knowing), Sara Dixon (The Science of Knowing), Victoria Visser (The Science of Knowing)

The StandBy Response Service (StandBy) provides support and assistance for people who have been bereaved through suicide by responding to individuals' unique needs. StandBy operates in numerous regions around Australia, including several rural and remote areas with large Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander populations. Evaluating a suicide bereavement support service requires a considered and inclusive approach, drawing on the expertise and experiences of local service providers. It is also critical to consider cultural differences in how suicide and health and wellbeing are conceptualised, and the disproportionate rate of suicide and higher prevalence of suicide clusters in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander populations.

Two distinct evaluation methodologies were developed in response to these considerations to independently measure how StandBy responds to suicide bereavement in both the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and non-Indigenous contexts. This approach ensured the evaluation framework was culturally appropriate, and relevant to the health and wellbeing outcomes anticipated by both groups of service users. This process also supported a constructivist understanding of how knowledge is generated by working with stakeholders and service users to discuss and negotiate evaluation processes.

This presentation showcases how the StandBy evaluation adopted inclusive practices that recognised the diverse identities, values and views of stakeholders and service users. The presentation includes a discussion on the two evaluation methodologies, and how findings could be merged to form an overall understanding of StandBy's impact.

An outline of the consultation process will demonstrate how we worked with stakeholders and service users to develop the two methodologies. This includes a discussion of how consultation processes recognised diversity and fostered cultural inclusivity, and the co-creation of knowledge in evaluation practice. The presentation will also cover how the evaluation has been embedded into ongoing service delivery to ensure its permanence and contribution to StandBy's evaluation capital.