Table 4 Consumers’ life experiences in childhood and/or adulthood prior to involvement in the SPS service

Life experiences

Percentage of 16 consumers

Overall challenges as a child: abuse; neglect; loss of parent (e.g., death and/or marital separation); loss of a sibling (e.g., death, marital separation, rejected from home or institutionalised care); and/or loss of health (e.g., accident, self-harm and/or substance abuse)

n = 10 (63%)

Overall challenges as an adult: exposure to domestic violence; loss of parent/s (e.g., death); partner/s (e.g., marital separation/s), and/or child (e.g., custody or running away); and loss of physical health (e.g., emphysema, tumours and severe back problems)

n = 11 (69%)

Happy experiences

  Happy experiences encountered within diversity (e.g., success in school, success in managing adverse early life experiences and/or mental illness, and/or having children that they love)

n = 10 (63%)

  Overall okay, happy and/or loving upbringing and home

n = 3 (19%)

Adverse experiences

  Abuse and/or neglect

n = 8 (50%)

  Parental loss

n = 8 (50%)

  Physical health challenges

n = 8 (50%)

  Child loss

n = 7 (44%)

  Unhappy and/or unsafe home

n = 7 (44%)

  Institutionalised care

n = 5 (31%)