This technical assistance initiative seeks programs nominated by their Single State Agency (state drug prevention agency) or National Prevention Network (NPN) representative. Awardees can receive access to experts to assist in implementation and evaluation of locally developed programs and become eligible for competitive subcontract awards and approval for national, evidence-based program registries such as SAMHSA’s National Registry of Evidence-based Programs and Practices. Specific criteria apply, including that programs address SAMHSA Strategic Initiative #1: Prevention of Substance Abuse and Mental Illness, which includes Goal 1.3: Prevent suicides and attempted suicides among populations at high risk, especially military families, LGBTQ youth, and American Indians and Alaska Natives.
The Weekly Spark: Friday, June 8, 2012
Announcements
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SAMHSA issues call for nominations for Service to Science Initiative
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National Public Health Information Coalition (NPHIC) and others present webcast on using media strategies to promote injury and violence prevention, Tuesday, June 12, 2012, 2:00- 3:30 p.m. ET
The NPHIC, in partnership with the Safe States Alliance, the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO) and the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) present Making the Front Page: Using Media Strategies to Promote Injury and Violence Prevention Programs. Health communication experts will describe how communication and media advocacy strategies can be used to influence health behaviors, as well as foster public and political support for policy and environmental level changes. The webcast will also discuss how injury and violence prevention professionals can strengthen their media relations skills, improve their message framing, and work more effectively with news and media outlets to garner more attention for their efforts.
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The International Association for Suicide Prevention (IASP) releases materials to promote World Suicide Prevention Day (WSPD), September 10, 2012
September 10, 2012 marks the 10th anniversary of WSPD. This year’s theme is Suicide Prevention across the Globe: Strengthening Protective Factors and Instilling Hope. In preparation, IASP has created a WSPD toolkit and WSPD press package. Resources in the toolkit include banners, postcards promoting the “Light a Candle Near a Window at 8 PM” campaign, QR Codes for WSPD, links to the official Facebook event page, and information on hashtags (#) that will be used on Twitter. The press package features guides on writing press releases, generating local media coverage, and giving media and radio interviews, as well as adaptable press releases. Participants are encouraged to submit local activities to the WSPD website.
Research
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Preventing Suicide with Mental Health Service Policies and Practices
A study in England and Wales revealed that mental health service providers who implemented at least seven of nine recommendations for improving mental health services achieved reductions in the suicide rates among their clients. Interventions that were associated with reductions in suicide rates included a crisis team that was available 24 hours/day, a written policy on the management of patients diagnosed with both a psychiatric illness and a drug or alcohol problem, and a written policy on multidisciplinary review after a suicide.
Several of the recommendations were relevant to specific groups of patients. Removing ligature points from inpatient wards significantly reduced the suicide rate among psychiatric inpatients. An assertive outreach policy resulted in a reduction in the suicide rate for patients who were not taking their medications as prescribed or who had failed to appear for their last appointment. A written policy on following up on patients within seven days of discharge did not seem to reduce risk during that period, but was associated with a decrease in the suicide rate for the three-month period after discharge. The other key service recommendations contributing to declines in the suicide rate (if implemented with at least six other recommendations) were: (1) a written policy on sharing information about risk with criminal justice agencies, (2) training clinical staff in managing suicide risk at least once every three years, and (3) a written policy on responding to patients who are not adhering to their treatment program.
Mental health services in catchment areas characterized by socio-economic deprivation and a large clinical population saw the largest decreases in suicide rates.
The key service recommendations were made by the National Confidential Inquiry (NCI) into Suicide and Homicide by People with Mental Illness, which seeks to improve the quality of mental health care in the United Kingdom. This research included a survey of mental health services in England and Wales and data on people who died by suicide (1997-2006) within 12 months of being in contact with mental health agencies affiliated with the National Health Service.
SPRC Commentary:
These research findings are very much in keeping with implementation research that suggests that staff training alone, even of the highest quality, will not produce practice changes with resultant patient or client outcomes. Health delivery systems seeking to make measureable progress in reducing suicidal behaviors should implement multiple interventions across the system, including those identified by this study as being more potent.
If this research article has caught your interest, check out the Suicide Care in Systems Framework report produced by the Clinical Care and Intervention Task Force of the National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention. This report lays out a conceptual framework to transform health systems with the goal of making patient suicide a “never event.”
While, D., Bickley, H., Roscoe, A., Windfuhr, K., Rahman, S., Shaw, J., Appleby, L., & Kapur, N. (2012). Implementation of mental health service recommendations in England and Wales and suicide rates, 1997-2006: A cross-sectional and before-and-after observational study. Lancet, 379(9820), 1005-1012.
News
National News
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Youth Suicide Prevention Program receives national recognition
Sources of Strength, a program that trains students as peer leaders and empowers them to positively influence social norms at school, has been accepted into the National Registry of Evidence-Based Programs and Practices. “We found that using peer leaders was very, very powerful,” said Mark LoMurray, executive director and founder of Sources of Strength. “They could provide a message that we couldn’t provide as adults. They really had the ability to go out there and change norms and cultures.” According to LoMurray, many of the student leaders (who are recruited through staff and student nominations) are “pretty edgy kids” who have never acted in a leadership role before. The students develop positive messages and deliver them through conversations with friends, classroom presentations, videos, and other means. The goals of the program include: developing healthy coping attitudes among youth; improving communication between youth and adults; increasing the acceptability of help-seeking; and reducing the acceptability of suicide as a response to distress.
Jun 1, 2012Read more about Sources of Strength
State News
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New law requires suicide prevention training
Washington has become the first state in the nation to require mental health professionals, social workers and occupational therapists to receive training in suicide assessment, treatment, and management. The new legislation requires professionals in these groups to receive six hours of training every six years as part of their continuing education requirements. “Health professionals are licensed by the state with the expectation they will protect the public, but not all clinicians receive this critical suicide prevention training,” said Rep. Tina Orwall, who sponsored the legislation. The bill, which is known as the Matt Adler Suicide Assessment, Treatment and Management Act of 2012, is named for a Seattle attorney who died by suicide in February 2011 while struggling with depression and an anxiety disorder.
May 30, 2012
International News
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Specialist assessment urged for the elderly who self-harm
United KingdomAccording to researchers from the University of Manchester, older adults who are admitted to the hospital for self-harm are a high-risk group for suicide and should receive specialized assessment and care. The researchers studied 1,177 people over the age of 60 who were admitted to the hospital after self-harming. The risk of suicide in this group was 67 times greater than the risk among adults in the general over-60 population. Suicide risk was also three times greater in the over-60 group than among younger adults who self-harm. Men over the age of 75 had the highest suicide rate. “Emergency departments may therefore be a key setting in terms of their potential for suicide prevention,” said lead study researcher Elizabeth Murphy of the Centre for Mental Health and Risk at the University of Manchester. “All older adults who present to hospital with self-harm should be considered as being at elevated risk of suicide, unless a detailed assessment shows otherwise. In particular, men over 75 need to be carefully monitored and assessed.”
May 29, 2012
The SPRC is supported by a grant (1 U79 SM059945) from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). No official endorsement by SAMHSA or DHHS for the information on this web site is intended or should be inferred.
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