Making Connections, Preventing Suicide
How can we prevent suicide among those at greatest risk? Part 2.
By Katie Deal and Sarah Wonders
In the first part of this two-part post, we discussed suicide as a preventable public health problem, disparities that exist in suicide-related data, the infrastructure that has been built in the US to prevent suicide, and the value of a public health approach to prevention. Here we address what organizations, communities, and individuals can do to help prevent suicide.
Making Connections
A key protective factor for suicide is connectedness — to family members, friends, neighbors, and co-workers; to community organizations such as schools and faith communities; and to one’s cultural traditions and history. Organizations, communities, and individuals can all build healthy connections in their suicide prevention efforts.
Organizations can look at the connections between funding streams, policies, and programs to address risk and protective factors for suicide and related issues, particularly for the populations at greatest risk of suicide. For example:
· State and local education agencies (e.g., Project Prevent grantees) have addressed suicide among students living in communities with high rates of poverty, substance misuse, violence, and trauma, providing those students essential social-emotional and mental health support.
· Healthcare systems have integrated suicide assessment and treatment into primary care and other healthcare settings, providing protective environments for patients at high risk of suicide and improving care transitions.
· The US Navy has taken a Navy-wide approach to achieve warfighting excellence through the prevention of suicide and other destructive behaviors (e.g., interpersonal violence, sexual assault) and the promotion of healthy signature behaviors (e.g., responsibility, diversity).
Communities can do many things, such as:
· promote social connectedness;
· teach life skills to youth and coping skills to Veterans;
· build resilience and promote well-being among American Indian and Alaska Native youth;
· promote safe, effective, and culturally and linguistically competent prevention messaging;
· address disparities in mental health care;
· strengthen economic supports and stable family housing; and
· address the impact of racism and racial discrimination and provide opportunities and resources to help community members cope with racial trauma.
Communities can also increase equity by improving community conditions that protect against suicide and related outcomes, as well as promoting equity in planning and policy-making.
Individuals can connect with and support someone who may be suicidal, using the five evidence-based action steps outlined in the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline’s #BeThe1To campaign.
Other examples of how we can support each other include:
· American Indian youth can serve as natural helpers with at-risk peers in their community, strengthening their connections by drawing upon their common history and traditions and weaving culture into prevention.
· Adults can strengthen their connections with Black youth and LGBTQ youth. Family members, faith community leaders, coaches, after-school personnel, and other adults can create positive, supportive, and encouraging relationships with Black youth to provide strong, supportive connections. School personnel and other youth-serving adults can better understand the challenges that LGBTQ students face and how to create a supportive environment through The Trevor Project’s Step In, Speak Up! virtual training.
· Anyone can increase social support and interactions with older adults experiencing social isolation and loneliness through friendly visitor programs, phone calls, virtual groups and online chats, meal delivery, transportation assistance, and other activities, via AARP Foundation’s Connect2Affect, Papa, and other programs.
· Military Service members and Veterans can stay connected with and support one another through phone calls, virtual meetups, peer-to-peer support programs, the Military/Veteran Crisis Line, and other means.
“Undertaking an upstream approach [to suicide prevention]…is essential to establishing a social environment in this nation in in which Black children and youth find themselves in family, community, and society in which at least one caring adult shows them unconditional love and values and affirms them in their identity as Black children.” — from “Ring the Alarm: The Crisis of Black Youth Suicide in America”
Looking Ahead
September is Suicide Prevention Month, an annual opportunity to have open, authentic conversations about suicide, promote supportive resources and best practices, create a positive cultural shift, spread hope, and be there for those who might be at risk. All year long, everyone has a role to play to save lives and create healthy and strong individuals, families, and communities. And with the right knowledge, skills, and resources, suicide can, and will, be prevented.
If You Know Someone in Crisis
Call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (Lifeline) at 1–800–273-TALK (8255), or text the Crisis Text Line (text HELLO to 741741). Both services are free and available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. All calls are confidential. Contact social media outlets directly if you are concerned about a friend’s social media updates or dial 911 in an emergency. Learn more on the Lifeline’s website or the Crisis Text Line’s website.
The Military/Veterans Crisis Line connects military Service members and Veterans in crisis, as well as their family members and friends, with qualified US Department of Veteran’s Affairs (VA) responders through a confidential toll-free hotline, online chat, or text messaging service. Dial 1–800–273–8255 and Press 1 to talk to someone or send a text message to 838255 to connect with a VA responder. You can also start a confidential online chat session at Veterans Crisis Chat.
Atlas Research’s Health Disparities Working Group is releasing a new series identifying and providing solutions to the complex challenges that underserved Americans face. We look forward to engaging with our readers and driving the conversation on topics such as mental health, Veterans’ health, homelessness, maternal health, economic disparities, racial justice, and more. Opinions expressed are that of the authors, and do not necessarily reflect Atlas’ position.
