Strategy A: Suicide Prevention

Strategy Description   

Increase the number of organizations that adopt new policy/practice changes that support suicide prevention. Address at least one of the following sub-strategies:

  • Provide annual suicide prevention community helper training. Acceptable community helper trainings include:
    • Applied Suicide Intervention Skills (ASIST)
    • LivingWorks Start, LivingWorks safeTALK, LivingWorks Faith
    • Question, Persuade, and Refer (QPR)
    • Counseling for Access to Lethal Means (CALM)
    • Mental Health First Aid programs
  • Form a new firearm safety team within the county that addresses public health strategies that include suicide prevention.  
  • Adopt new protocols for staff response to those at risk of suicide.

Expected Outcome 

Increased number of organizations that adopt new policies and/or practices in support of suicide prevention by addressing the above-mentioned sub-strategies. 

Recommended Partners 

  • Schools (including community colleges and universities)
  • Medical and mental health care providers  
  • Employers  
  • Military/veteran groups  
  • Support agencies  
  • Community groups  
  • Civic groups  
  • Criminal justice  
  • Social services  
  • Aging services  
  • Gun shops  
  • Firing ranges  
  • Faith communities  
  • Law enforcement and first responders
  • Advocates of Syringe Service Programs (SSPs)  

Reaching people at risk may necessitate working with non-traditional partners, including suicide loss survivors and those with lived experience. County data should be used to identify the groups at highest risk and most common means used when developing suicide prevention strategies.

Intervention Examples 

  • As a result of a church losing one of its parishioners to suicide, church leadership adopted a policy to provide LivingWorks Faith training annually for its staff and volunteers. They also implemented a referral service, connecting those in need to crisis intervention services in the community.  

  • Local schools are noticing an increase in stress among students and reach out for guidance. A training for school support services team, teachers, and staff is provided, inviting local mental health providers to talk about common youth mental health concerns, crisis planning, and resource access. An evening awareness event is also developed for parents and teens which is educational and has interactive components. This led to the school developing a policy to annually provide Mental Health First Aid training to all newly employed staff of the school district. 

  • The county has a high suicide by firearm rate. This prompted county health department staff to work with health care and mental health care providers to develop a comprehensive approach for patients identified as at-risk for suicide which included both a suicide risk assessment and inquiry about access to means. Health department staff also provided gun shops and firing ranges with educational materials, including safety messaging and warning signs for display that included information for both staff and patrons. 

Related Programs 

A suicide prevention program specialist is available to provide technical assistance on multiple aspects of prevention planning and can facilitate linkages to resources.   

Recommended Tools and Resources

NC Resources

Data Sources

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