National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention
Action
Alliance Launches National Strategy for Suicide
Prevention NEW National Strategy for Suicide Prevention "Reducing the number of suicides requires the engagement and commitment of people in many sectors in and outside of government, including public health, mental health, health care, the Armed Forces, business, entertainment, media, and education." - Former U.S. Surgeon General Regina Benjamin, Preface from the Surgeon General, National Strategy for Suicide Prevention The National Strategy for Suicide Prevention (National Strategy) is a call to action intended to guide the nation’s suicide prevention efforts. Released by the U.S. Surgeon General and the Action Alliance, the National Strategy presents 13 goals and 60 objectives for suicide prevention and describes the role that each of us can play in preventing suicide and reducing its impact on individuals, families, and communities. The Action Alliance is dedicated to advancing the National Strategy, updated in 2012 with support from the National Strategy Revision/Update Task Force. Three Priorities: To achieve the greatest impact on reducing suicide in the nation, the Action Alliance is currently supporting work on three priorities areas: transforming health systems, transforming communities, and changing the conversation about suicide. These priorities were identified by the Action Alliance’s Impact Group as having the greatest potential to produce the systems-level change necessary to substantially lower the number of suicides in our nation and help to further advance the goals and objectives of the National Strategy. Areas of Ongoing Focus: In addition to these three priorities, the Action Alliance continues to further progress in other areas critical to advancing the National Strategy: high-impact suicide prevention research, data and surveillance, access to lethal means, and lived experience. Assessing Progress: The Action Alliance monitors the implementation of the National Strategy and progress towards the achievement of its goals and objectives. Released in 2017 by the Impact Group, the National Strategy for Suicide Prevention Implementation Assessment Report describes progress achieved to date and offers recommendations for future action. The addendum (49 page PDF) to this report describes activities conducted by several federal agencies in support of National Strategy goals and objectives. Related Resources Revised National Strategy for Suicide Prevention (2012) NEW The revised National Strategy for Suicide Prevention emphasizes the role every American can play in preventing suicide. This federal crosswalk includes information from three federal departments on their activities related to suicide prevention: Action Alliance Launches National Strategy for Suicide Prevention NEW Strategy outlines priorities and goal
to save 20,000 lives in five years. Health Care
Systems "Over the decades, individual [mental health] clinicians have made heroic efforts to save lives…but systems of care have done very little." - Dr. Richard McKeon, Chief, Suicide Prevention Branch, U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration The Action Alliance is committed to improving suicide care in health systems across the nation. We do so by supporting efforts in the public and private sector to scale up implementation of the
Action
Alliance's Zero Suicide. About Zero
Suicide Clinical care plays a central role in the prevention, identification, and treatment of suicide risk. And yet, the care provided in clinical settings can often be fragmented, allowing people at risk for suicide to “fall through the cracks,” thereby failing to receive needed care. In 2011, the Action Alliance formed a Clinical Care and Intervention Task Force, composed of leaders in suicide care, to identify ways to improve the quality of care for suicide risk in health care setting and systems. The result of their work was Suicide Care in Systems Framework, a report that established the framework for the Zero Suicide initiative. Zero Suicide applies a quality improvement and safety framework to suicide care throughout the health system. Launched in 2012, the initiative promotes the adoption of “zero suicides” as an organizing goal for health care systems and seeks to transform suicide care through changes in leadership, policies, practices, and outcome measurement. Zero Suicide implementation efforts
are now led by EDC’s Zero
Suicide Institute. What is Zero
Suicide? Inspired by health care systems that had seen dramatic reductions in patient suicide, Zero Suicide began as a key concept of the 2012 National Strategy for Suicide Prevention, and quickly became a priority of National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention (Action Alliance), and a project of Education Development Center's Suicide Prevention Resource Center (SPRC), supported by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). For health care systems, this approach represents a commitment:
Zero Suicide implementation requires transformative change that cannot be borne solely by the practitioners providing clinical care. Zero Suicide requires a system-wide approach to improve outcomes and close gaps. Essential Elements of Suicide Care After researching successful approaches to suicide reduction, the Action Alliance’s Clinical Care and Intervention Task Force identified seven essential elements of suicide care for health and behavioral health care systems to adopt:
Zero Suicide is a call to relentlessly
pursue a reduction in suicide and improve the care for those
who seek help Zero Suicide in Health and Behavioral Health Care This website provides a specific set of tools and strategies to improve care and outcomes for individuals at risk of suicide in health care systems. Compliance Standards Pave the Way for Reducing Suicide in Health Care Systems A Journal of Health Care Compliance article about how health care systems will increasingly need to adopt comprehensive, system-wide and standardized suicide ... Zero Suicide in Health and Behavioral Health Care What
is Zero Suicide PRINT Compliance Standards Pave the Way for
Reducing Suicide in Health Care Systems (10 page PDF)
PRINT Source: https://theactionalliance.org/healthcare/zero-suicide The Action Alliance is dedicated to advancing the National Strategy for Suicide Prevention. Working with more than 250 national partners, the Action Alliance is implementing efforts aimed at reducing the annual suicide rate 20 percent by 2025. Towards that end, the Action Alliance has identified three priority areas that hold the most promise for reducing suicide in the nation: transforming health systems In addition to these three priorities, the Action Alliance is committed to ensuring progress in the following areas, which support and contribute to efforts across all three Action Alliance priority areas: research, data and surveillance, access to lethal means, and lived experience.
Source: theactionalliance.org/our-strategy Suicide
Safe NEW
App for
prevention professionals and care providers For individuals at risk of suicide, primary and behavioral health care settings provide unique opportunities to connect with the health care system and access effective treatment. Suicide Safe is a free mobile app that helps providers integrate suicide prevention strategies into their practice and address suicide risk among their patients. The Suicide Safe app is based on SAMHSA's Suicide Assessment Five-Step Evaluation and Triage (SAFE-T) card. App Features With Suicide Safe, primary and behavioral health care providers can:
For more information, email SAMHSA at
samhsainfo@samhsa.hhs.gov.
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