Support Tennessee’s Zero Suicide initiative
Behavioral health and substance abuse facilities statewide have embarked on an ambitious plan to eliminate suicides.
September is Suicide Prevention Awareness Month in Tennessee. An estimated 950 men, women, and children die by suicide each year in our state — more people than are lost to homicide, AIDS or drunken driving.
All across the state, behavioral health and substance abuse facilities are embarking on an ambitious plan to eliminate — not merely reduce —suicides within their client base.
Programs already in place elsewhere in the country show that it can be done. Tennessee’s Zero Suicide Initiative is based on a program developed by the Henry Ford Health System in Michigan which has been adapted by other mental health systems, including Centerstone here in Tennessee.
The plan involves an aggressive yet achievable action plan using thoroughly researched strategies.
Every staff member in these facilities, from executive leadership down to support staff, learns how to spot suicide warning signs and make the appropriate interventions and referrals.
Physicians and caseworkers use the Columbia Suicide Severity Rating Scale, the gold standard in suicide prevention screening, to assess patients’ suicide risk at regular intervals during the treatment process.
The results of every screening and the interventions provided — therapy, prescriptions, hospitalization, etc.— are added to a patient’s medical record so that staff responsible for treatment have the latest information on each case. Clerks and other staff follow-up to make sure that appointments are made and prescriptions are filled.
The Zero Suicide Initiative also involves the patient and the family in the process to guarantee the best possible results. Patients work with therapists, along with friends and family, to develop a safety plan in the event of a mental health crisis — who should be called, what the patient will need, etc. Guns or other lethal means may be temporarily removed from the home.
Currently there are 25 mental health centers, substance abuse programs, and local hospitals participating in the Zero Suicide Initiative, and other agencies have expressed interest in coming on board.
More information about the Zero Suicide Initiative is available on the TSPN website (www.tspn.org). We look forward to working with even more agencies and professionals across the state to make zero suicides not just an objective, but a reality for Tennessee.
In the meantime, you can get help for someone who may be feeling suicidal — whether it’s someone you know or yourself — through the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-TALK (8255).
Scott Ridgeway is the executive director of the Tennessee Suicide Prevention Network
Preamble to the Tennessee Strategy for Suicide Prevention
Suicide prevention must recognize and affirm the cultural diversity, value, dignity and importance of each person.
Suicide is not solely the result of illness or inner conditions. The feelings of hopelessness that contribute to suicide can stem from societal conditions and attitudes. Therefore, everyone concerned with suicide prevention shares a responsibility to help change attitudes and eliminate conditions of oppression, racism, homophobia, discrimination, and prejudice.
Suicide prevention strategies must be evidenced based and clinically sound. They must address diverse populations that are disproportionately affected by societal conditions and are at greater risk for suicide.
Individuals, communities, organizations, and leaders at all levels should collaborate in the promotion of suicide prevention.
The success of this strategy ultimately rests with the individuals and communities across the State of Tennessee.