Workshop for suicide-safer communities takes place
Although a leading cause of youth deaths in Canada is essentially preventable, suicide is something that is not always discussed openly.
A workshop held in 100 Mile House on March 23 focused on a new initiative for prevention, intervention and postvention of suicide (PIP) and covered related aspects with people from organizations touched by these issues. The workshop, called Strengthening the Safety Net for Suicide Prevention, Intervention and Postvention, it’s part of a pilot project of the Suicide PIP Initiative of BC (SPIPBC) to develop and promote a framework and template for local, regional and provincial efforts to address suicide.
The workshop was sponsored by the SPIPBC, Interior Health (IH) and the Ministry of Children and Family Development, child and youth mental health. “It’s an initiative started in 2008 in response to a number of issues that came together at that time, which had to do with developing a strategy of suicide prevention, intervention and postvention for the province,” says SPIPBC co-chair Dammy Albach.
While prevention and intervention efforts can help those in danger of suicide attempts, Albach, who is also Vancouver Coastal Health’s Suicide Attempt Follow-up Education and Research (SAFER) outpatient counselling service co-ordinator, explains postvention involves supports that are available after losing someone to suicide.
The challenge in developing a provincewide strategy for British Columbia is the SPIPBC committee must meet with people throughout the province to determine the needs, Albach says. This is why the committee is bringing the strategic research model SPIPBC document to communities for input. “All of these people who came out have a stake in this issue. Now, they have this [model] as a basis and they can decide what to do with it.”
In her role as IH population health facilitator, Jenny Turco says she has a focus on youth suicide prevention and has been involved as a stake-holder in the entire SPIPBC process so far. “In B.C., almost 500 people die by suicide every year,” she explains. “These deaths are almost always preventable, and with supportive, collaborative and interdisciplinary approaches toward suicidality, there is hope of reducing suicide risk and increasing protective factors that build suicide-safer communities.”
The pilot workshops are taking place in various interested communities to allow a knowledge exchange to help communities overcome barriers and challenges, Turco says, as well as to see and discuss what others are doing.
“Today’s workshop was the beginning of a great process towards suicide-safer communities in the Cariboo. Through the contacts of today’s gathering, many new relationships have been strengthened within the communities in the Cariboo.”
Carole Rooney
21 April 2010
http://www.bclocalnews.com/bc_cariboo/100milefreepress/community/91667019.html
