Suicide Prevention Resources for Korean People [Asian Family Services]

Did you know!! South Korea has one of the highest rates of suicide deaths among developed countries. In 2019, the suicide rate was 26.9 per 100,000, which was two times higher than the average suicide rates of other OECD countries (World Population Review, 2019). The sudden, multiple deaths in a Korean family in Christchurch in 2010 was widely publicised and has left a community shocked and upset. It highlights the need for suicide prevention awareness for Koreans residing in New Zealand. 

Asian Family Services has developed and launched a Suicide Prevention Video Resource for Korean People on 11th November 2019 at the School of Population Health, Tamaki Campus, to coincide with the National Suicide Prevention Week, and the launch of the new Suicide Mortality Review Committee report ‘Understanding death by suicide in the Asian population of Aotearoa New Zealand’.

Suicide Prevention Video Resource for Korean People

Purpose

  • Provide a Korean-culture and language-specific video to address suicide for the Korean community

Goals

  • To improve mental health literacy in the Korean community and to expose the community to suicide prevention information
  •  To educate Korean people about suicide and its prevention using online videos that are culturally and linguistically appropriate, with a longer-term plan to follow up.

What is in the resource

Five Korean-speaking clinicians were interviewed providing views in Korean language on:

  • How suicide is viewed in Korean culture
  • Why Korean immigrants are vulnerable to mental distress and suicide
  • Specific-cultural factors that may increase suicide risk
  • Warning signs of suicide, especially those which are culturally specific to Koreans
  • Suicide is preventable, how and where to get help and support

Intended viewers

  • Koreans

View the resource

More about the resource

The clinicians who contributed their time and expertise for this production include:

  • Dr Aram Kim (Psychiatrist)
  • Dr Chohye Park (Psychiatrist)
  • Dr Hyunok Jeon (Clinical psychologist)
  • Imsoo Kim (Counsellor at Asian Family Services)
  • Hyunsook Rhee (Counsellor at Asian Family Services)

Click here to read the 'Report on the Development of a Suicide Prevention Resource for Korean People (2019)'.

 

Suicide Prevention Resources for Korean People [Asian Family Services]