Developing Comprehensive Suicide Prevention

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Developing Comprehensive Suicide Prevention
Lloyd Potter, PhD, MPH Childrens Safety Network
Suicide Prevention Resource Center Education
Development Center, Inc.
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Topics

• Title V and Suicide Prevention
• Implementing Evidence-Based Prevention
• Collaboration and Integration of Suicide
  Prevention

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Title V Block Grant National Performance Measures

• Reducing suicide rates among 15-19 year olds

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State Title V Performance Measures - Maine

• The percentage of high school students (grades
  9-12) who feel like they matter to people in
  their community.
• The percentage of elementary schools that have
  developed and implemented a comprehensive
  approach to the prevention of bullying in
  collaboration with the Maine Injury Prevention
  Program.

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State Title V Performance Measures

• Minnesota -The degree to which Title V programs
  enhance statewide capacity for a public health
  approach to mental health promotion and suicide
  prevention for children and adolescents.
• Rhode Island - Percentage of students who felt so
  sad or hopeless almost every day for two weeks or
  more in a row that they stopped doing some usual
  activities during the past 12 months.

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Spheres of Influence Ecological perspective of
development
Society
Community
Family/Peers
Individual
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The Mental Health Intervention Spectrum for
mental disorders
Source Institute of Medicine. (1994). Reducing risks for mental disorders Frontiers for preventive intervention research.
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Evidence of effective suicide prevention
interventions

• Selective
• Life skills (promising)
• Small group skills (promising)
• Managing geriatric depression (promising)
• Indicated
• Behavioral/cognitivebehavioral strategies
  (effective)
• Brief psychological intervention (promising)
• Contact through letter or telephone (promising)

• Universal
• Means control (promising)
• Laws and policies (promising)
• Public health messages (insufficient)
• School-based interventions
  
  education (insufficient)
• School-based interventions
  
  skills (promising)
• Gatekeeper training (insufficient)
• Screening (insufficient)

Adapted from Knox, K. (2006). Interventions to
prevent suicidal behavior. In Doll et al.,
Handbook of Injury Prevention.
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SPRC Best Practices Registry www.SPRC.org
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Delivering and adapting evidence-based programs
in communities

• where the rubber meets the road

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The Whole is Greater than the Sum of the Parts
Is evidence-based programming adequate?

• Necessary, not sufficient
• Highly targeted focus of specific
  prevention/promotion efforts often inadequate for
  achieving mental health promotion goals
• A more comprehensive and collaborative approach
  is needed

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Community Problem Solving Capacity
Collective Competence
Low
High
Anomic Communities LL
Detached Communities LH
Low
Shared Responsibility
Intentional Communities HL
Empowered Communities HH
High
Source Bowen, G.L., Martin, J.A., Mancini,
J.A. (1999) Communities in Blue for the 21st
Century Fairfax, VA Caliber Associates, (p.
8-9).
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Coalition for Planning, Collaboration, and
Integration

• Schools
• Faith community
• Community programs
• Acute/Primary care
• Mental health
• Advocacy groups
• Police and courts
• Foster care
• Child/Family protective services

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Conclusion

• Defining suicide prevention relate performance
  measures can help advance efforts
• There is a growing body of information about
  evidence-based and best practices that states and
  communities can use
• Planning, collaboration, and integration at the
  state and community level should drive suicide
  prevention and mental health promotion

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Resources
www.SPRC.org
www.ChildrensSafetyNetwork.org
www.SPANUSA.org
www.AFSP.org
www.suicidology.org