ERIC ED456371: National Strategy for Suicide Prevention: Goals and Objectives for Action.

233 Pages·2001·3 MB·English

by  ERIC

DOCUMENT RESUME
CG 031 138
ED 456 371
Silverman, Morton M., Ed.
AUTHOR
National Strategy for Suicide Prevention: Goals and
TITLE
Objectives for Action.
Office of the Surgeon General (DHHS/PHS), Washington, DC.;
INSTITUTION
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
(DHHS/PHS), Rockville, MD. Center for Mental Health
Services.; Health Resources and Services Administration
(DHHS/PHS), Rockville, MD. Bureau of Maternal and Child
Health and Resources Development.; Indian Health Service
(PHS/HSA), Rockville, MD.; Substance Abuse and Mental Health
Services Administration (DHHS/PHS), Rockville, MD. Center
for Mental Health Services.; National Institutes of Health
(DHHS), Bethesda, MD.
SMA-01-3517; SMA-01-3518
REPORT NO
PUB DATE 2001-00-00
232p.; Assistance in preparing this publication was also
NOTE
provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,
National Center for Injury Prevention and Control; The
National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Mental
Health; and the Public Health Service Regional Health
Administrators. A separately published 17-page summary is
appended.
AVAILABLE FROM Center for Mental Health Services' Knowledge Exchange
Network, P.O. Box 42490, Washington, DC 20015. Tel:
For full text:
800-789-2647 (Toll Free) .
http://www.mentalhealth.org/suicideprevention. For full
text: http://www.surgeongeneral.gov.library.
Non-Classroom (055) Reports - Descriptive (141)
PUB TYPE
Guides
EDRS PRICE MF01/PC10 Plus Postage.
Change Strategies; Community Action; Cooperation; Health
DESCRIPTORS
Promotion; *National Programs; Prevention; Program
Development; *Public Health; Social Structure; *Suicide
*Suicide Prevention
IDENTIFIERS
ABSTRACT
This guide is designed to be a catalyst for social change,
and to transform attitudes, policies, and services concerned with suicide
prevention to reflect current knowledge. It involves a comprehensive and
integrated approach to reducing the loss and suffering from suicide and
suicidal behaviors in the United States. Representing the combined work of
advocates, clinicians, researchers, and survivors, the strategy lays out a
framework for action and guides the development of an array of services and
programs for the future. It strives to promote and provide direction to
efforts to modify the social infrastructure in ways that will affect
attitudes about suicide and that will also change judicial, educational,
social service, and health care systems. The public health approach is a
rational and organized way to direct prevention efforts and ensure that they
are effective. This national strategy represents the first attempt to prevent
suicide through a coordinated approach between all levels of the government
and the private sector. The Goals and Objectives for Action consist of 11
goals and 68 objectives that serve as the blueprint for action. Appendices
include the following: "NSSP Goals and Objectives for Action": Summary List;
Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made
from the original document.
Evaluation of Suicide Prevention Programs; Suicide Prevention Efforts in
Process of Evaluation; NSSP Federal Steering Group Agency Descriptions; and
Glossary. (Contains 197 references.)
(JDM)
Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made
from the original document.
National Strategy for Suicide Prevention:
Goals and Objectives for Action
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
[2001]
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Office of Educational Research and
Improvement EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES
INFORMATIONCENTER (ERIC)
This document has been reproduced as
received from the person or organization
originating it.
Minor changes have been made to
improve reproduction quality
Points of view or opinions stated in this
document do not necessarily represent
official OERI position or policy.
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NATIONAL STRATEGY FOR SUICIDE PREVENTION:
GOALS AND OBJECTIVES FOR ACTION
2001
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Public Health Service
Rockville, MD
National Library of Medicine Cataloging in Publication
National strategy for suicide prevention : Goals and objectives for action.
Rockville, MD : U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services,
Public Health Service, 2001. Includes index.
1. Suicide - prevention & control
United States. 2. Health Planning
United States. I. United States.
Public Health Service.
02NLM:HV 6548.A1 2001.
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Copies of this document are available from the Center for Mental Health Services Knowledge
Exchange
Network by calling 1-800-789-2647, reference document number SMA 3517; and
on the World Wide
Web at www.mentalhealth.org/suicideprevention, or at http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/library
1
GOALS AND OBJECTIVES FOR ACTION
PREFACE FROM THE SURGEON GENERAL:
Suicide exacts an enormous toll from the American people. Our Nation
loses 30,000 lives to this tragedy each year, another 650,000 receive
emergency care after attempting to take their own lives. The devastating
trauma, loss, and suffering is multiplied in the lives of family members
and friends. This document, National Strategy for Suicide Prevention
Goals and Objectives for Action, lays the foundation of our Nation's
strategy to confront this serious public health problem.
At this document's source are countless dedicated individuals repre-
senting every facet of our Nation's communities. They include represen-
tatives to a 1993 United Nations/World Health Organization Conference
who played key roles in establishing guidelines for national suicide pre-
vention strategies. They include the passionate grassroots activists whose
work stimulated Congressional Resolutions declaring suicide prevention
a national priority and calling for our own national strategy. They include
dedicated public servants and private individuals who jointly organized
and participated in the first National Suicide Prevention Conference in
1998 to consolidate a scientific base for this critical endeavor. These peo-
ple and their efforts led directly to publication of the Surgeon General's
Call to Action to Prevent Suicide - 1999 with its most important recom-
mendation, the completion of the National Strategy for Suicide
Prevention.
After listening to the concerns of the American people, Government
leaders helped bring stakeholders together in a shining example of pub-
lic-private collaboration to achieve this major milestone in public health.
Those who have invested their hearts and minds in this effort believe it
effectively points the way for organizations and individuals to curtail the
tragedy of suicide and suicidal behavior. Though it does not specify all
the details, it provides essential guidance and suggests the fundamental
activities that must followactivities based on the best available science.
Nearly half of the States are engaged in suicide prevention and many
have already committed significant resources to implement programs.
Their leadership in evaluating the effectiveness of these programs will
6
NATIONAL STRATEGY FOR SUICIDE PREVENTION
PREFACE
GOALS AND OBJECTIVES FOR ACTION
help guide the efforts of States that follow in their paths. Most of these
plans recognize that much of the work of suicide prevention must occur
at the community level, where human relationships breathe life into pub-
lic policy. American communities are also home to scores of faith-based
and secular initiatives that help reduce risk factors and promote protec-
tive factors associated with many of our most pressing social problems,
including suicide.
As you read further, keep in mind that the National Strategy for
Suicide Prevention is not the Surgeon General's strategy or the Federal
government's strategy; rather, it is the strategy of the American people
for improving their health and well-being through the prevention of sui-
cide. I congratulate each person who played a role in bringing it to com-
pletion. You have served your fellow Americans well.
Sincerely yours,
David Satcher, M.D., Ph.D.
Surgeon General
7
NATIONAL STRATEGY MR SUICIDE PREVENTION
GOALS AND OBJECTIVES FOR ACTION
FROM THE NATIONAL COUNCIL FOR SUICIDE PREVENTION
Dear Surgeon General Satcher:
The members of the National Council for Suicide Prevention are writ-
ing to express strong support for this landmark document -- the first ever
National Strategy for Suicide Prevention (National Strategy).
We are particularly grateful to you for bringing needed attention to
the problem of suicide in our country, and for your role in the public/pri-
vate effort that has led to the National Strategy. Further, we applaud the
fact that this strategy has been created from the expertise and experience
of mental health clinicians, research scientists, suicide survivors, persons
who have attempted suicide, prevention advocates and other concerned
individuals.
The enormous amount of time and effort that went into the develop-
ment of the National Strategy is reflected in its clarity of purpose and its
comprehensiveness. From our perspective, the goals and objectives, as
articulated and well documented in the strategy, provide a focus for the
suicide prevention work of all groups at national, State and local levels.
With this broad agreement on what must be done to prevent suicide,
we now face a new challenge, which is how to achieve, to the fullest
extent possible, the goals and objectives presented in the strategy and to
ensure that it reaches all Americans.
As a council of national not-for-profit organizations whose primary
focus is the prevention of suicide, we are dedicated to working with each
other and with our colleagues in government and the private sector to
do what we can to ensure the timely implementation of the National
Strategy. Together, we can and will do more to prevent loss of life from
suicide.
INIATacomAL STRATEGY FOR SUICIDE PREVENTION
FROM THE NCSP
GOALS AND OBJECTIVES FOR ACTION
Respectfully submitted,
Alan L. Berman, Ph.D.
American Association of Suicidology
Clark Flatt
The Jason Foundation
Iris Bolton
The Link Counseling Center's National Resource Center for Suicide
Prevention and Aftercare
James Clemons
Organization for Attempters and Survivors of Suicide in Interfaith
Services
Jackie Casey
Suicide Awareness\Voices of Education
Robert Gebbia
American Foundation for Suicide Prevention
Reese Butler
Kristin Brooks Hope Center
Donna Holland Barnes
National Organization for People of Color Against Suicide
Mary Jean Coleman
Samaritans, Inc.
Jerry Weyrauch
Suicide Prevention Advocacy Network
Dale Emme
Yellow Ribbon Suicide Prevention Program
NATIONAL STRATEGY FOR SUICIDE PREVENTION