Suicide Prevention:
Campus and Community
Collaboration
Rachael McNamara, M.A.
Health Educator
College Of Charleston
Jennifer Gardin
Graduate Student
College of Charleston
Objectives
Define the need for suicide prevention partners in the community
Discuss campus and community groups with high-risk interactions
Photo by Stuart Miles
Death rates for 15-24 year-olds
The Need
for Suicide
Prevention
Partners
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK54374/#specialfeature.s5
Suicide and College Students
The Need
for Suicide
Prevention
Partners
Kochanek, 2002 Kochanek KD, Murphy SL, Anderson RN, Scott C. Deaths: final data for 2002. Hyattsville, Maryland: U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services, 2004; Natl. Vital Stat Rep. 53(5), 2004.
How many youth who commit suicide received
professional help?
students attend college
Only
20%
have seriously
considered suicide
What this could mean:
do not seek help
Those who seek help:
● perceive a personal need
●
●
●
●
for help
believe that treatment is
effective
know others who have
used counseling
are aware of available
services and know how to
access them
have a lower level of
personal stigma for using
mental health services
2/3rds of students who
seek services say that
encouragement from others is
an important factor in deciding
to seek help
Those who do not seek help:
● prefer to try to manage
it alone
● worry about what
people will think
● doubt the effectiveness
of treatment
● believe the problem will
remedy itself
Downs & Eisenberg, 2012
90% of suicidal students
who did not initiate services
on their own say that other
people were an important
influence
Your college:
● Who do you think interacts with high-risk populations?
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friends
family
coworkers
faculty
faith-based supports
medical doctors
mental health professionals
Beginning Collaborations:
Who do you want on your
team? (be sneaky!)
Beginning Collaborations: What do you do with your team?
● Identify campus groups that interact with
potentially high-risk students
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Dean of Students Office
Safe zone
Gay-Straight Alliance
Greek organizations
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Resident Advisors
Education majors
Psychology majors
The Multicultural Center
Beginning Collaborations: What do you do with your team?
Develop programs and evaluation plans
●What will change?
● For whom?
● By how much? When
will the change occur?
● How will it be
measured?
https://www.jedfoundation.org/CampusMHAP_Web_final.pdf
● Set long-term goals
●Consult research to
identify strategies
Beginning Collaborations: What do you do with your team?
 Implement programs and evaluations
● Annual Suicide
● Cougar Counseling Team
Prevention Conference
● Gatekeeper Training
○
○
ASIST
QPR
● Journey of
Understanding
● Do Not Cancel That Class
Cougar Counseling Team; 2015 Thurs shift
Ways to meet the collaborative needs of your
partners
 Campus
 National College Health Assessment
 Moving trainings to their meeting times/locations
 Include information about special topics within
suicide population
 work on a formal “need” statement for Student
Affairs and the board
 partner on events like “Green Zone” training
imgarcade.com
Ways to meet the collaborative needs of your
partners
 Community
 Annual Suicide Prevention Conference
 Provided Gatekeeper and more detailed trainings on
both basic suicide prevention and intervention skills
 Partnered with Foundations to work toward their
mental health awareness goals
 Acted as a resource about available community
resources
classatcofc.com
Gatekeeper Training
● What is gatekeeper training?
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○
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Provides the fundamentals of suicide prevention
Teaches basic or advanced suicide intervention skills
Increases confidence and ability in responding to suicide behavior
Provides resources for suicide intervention and prevention
● Why have it?
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77% of students say they would turn to friends for help*
Campus faculty and staff report that students approach them for help
National data shows that people seek out faith-based leaders
● Who is it for?
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Health Service professionals
People whose jobs bring them into contact with high-risk individuals
People who are “great listeners”
*mtvU AP 2009 Economy, College Stress and Mental Health Poll
Helpful
References
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http://www.thecampusprogram.org/
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http://suicidepreventionmessaging.actionallianceforsuicideprevention.org/
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http://www.sprc.org/
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http://www.suicidology.org/
●
Kochanek, 2002 Kochanek KD, Murphy SL, Anderson RN, Scott C. Deaths: final data for 2002.
Hyattsville, Maryland: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2004; Natl. Vital Stat Rep.
53(5), 2004.
●
Eisenberg, Daniel. Report on The Healthy Minds Study for 2009, The Center for Student Studies at the
Survey Sciences Group, on behalf of the University of Michigan’s School of Public Health.