The Care Zone project was established as a result of a Future Search workshop that was led by the then Health Minister Mrs Michelle O’Neill, ‘Building Hope: Working Together to Prevent Suicide’, where twelve common ground themes were agreed at the workshop as the best actions to be taken forward to improve mental health and well-being and reduce suicide. Common Ground theme 10, Community Development – Ensuring that a community[1]development-approach is the preferred method for working with communities, was the challenge to be delivered by the Care Zone. The approach is based on a community development model that seeks to support local residents to improve their health and social well-being, with the longer-term aim of reducing suicide. The lessons learned from the application of the Care Zone model are intended to be transferable to other areas in Belfast.
