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Director's Blog

Jerry Reed, Director of SPRC Each month, SPRC Director Jerry Reed will offer his perspective on a current issue in suicide prevention. Jerry, who has been working in the field of suicide prevention since 1997 and with SPRC since 2008, brings to his role significant experience in advocacy and public policy, a 15-year career as a civil servant with the Department of the Army, and experience working directly with the U.S. Congress. Jerry’s professional interest in the field of suicide prevention started as a result of his work in the Office of Senator Harry Reid.

Voices That Inspire

Posted by Jerry Reed on May 2, 2013

This month I would like to look back on the important role that survivors of suicide loss have played in the history of suicide prevention. In the late 1990s, I worked for Senator Harry Reid. While helping him prepare for a hearing on mental health and the elderly, I discovered that Senator Reid’s home state of Nevada had the highest rate of suicide in the nation. This marked the moment...

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Update on Military Suicide Prevention

Posted by on April 4, 2013

On March 21, I had the privilege of testifying before Congress during an Update on Military Suicide Prevention called by the Subcommittee on Military Personnel of the House Armed Services Committee. I was on a panel that included Jacqueline Garrick, who is the acting director of the DoD’s Suicide Prevention Office and a member of the SPRC Steering Committee, as well as representatives...

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Advancing Peer Support in Suicide Prevention

Posted by Jerry Reed on March 8, 2013

Peer support has long been recognized as important in prevention. Those bereaved by suicide loss – that is, the family and friends of people who have died by suicide – form an essential and active part of the suicide prevention community. It is difficult to think of a major suicide prevention organization or initiative that does not include persons bereaved by suicide. Those who...

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Guest Blog: Promoting Connectedness among Older Adults by Yeates Conwell MD

Posted by Yeates Conwell, MD, on February 7, 2013

Yeates Conwell, MD, Co-Director, Injury Control Research Center for Suicide Prevention, University of Rochester Medical Center and member of the SPRC Steering Committee

The scope of suicide by older adults is often underappreciated. Global suicide rates rise with age for both men and women. Between 5,000 and 6,000 older adults will die by suicide in the United States this year. A large...

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Our Next Big Challenge: Bringing Best Practices to Scale

Posted by on January 8, 2013

The field of suicide prevention has made great strides in documenting best practices. As of September 2012, there were 106 programs listed on the Best Practices Registry with 13 more in review. I see our next challenge as bringing these practices “to scale” – that is,  disseminating this information to the practice community and making resources available so these...

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