This brief manual explores how media accounts can actually serve as a suicide prevention tool by: assisting news professionals to report responsibly and accurately; using a media request for information as an opportunity to influence the contents of the story; emphasizing the importance of listing available community resources for individuals at-risk and describing what is being done to promote safety for vulnerable individuals in the aftermath of a suicide; and warning against the aspects of news coverage that may promote copycat suicides.
Resource Types: Guidelines/Recommendations
National Patient Safety Goals
The Joint Commission evaluates and accredits nearly 15,000 health care organizations and programs in the United States. From 2002, The Joint Commission approves annual sets of National Patient Safety Goals (NPSGs) with related specific requirements.
Advocacy handbook: A guide for implementing recommendations of the criminal justice/mental health consensus project
A how-to guide for advocates who want to improve the response to people with mental illness who are in contact with the criminal justice system. The guide is a joint effort among the Consensus Project, NAMI, the National Mental Health Association, the National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors, and the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law.
Guidelines for working effectively with interpreters in a mental health setting
These guidelines from Australia are intended to assist mental health staff to understand the characteristics of interpreted meetings and to develop the knowledge and skills that are necessary for working in partnership with interpreters.
Research-based guidelines and practices for school-based suicide prevention
This document summarizes federal (and California) activity to prevent student suicide and provides research-based guidance for district-, local-, and site-level suicide prevention programming with comprehensive involvement of school personnel.
Guidance on action to be taken at suicide hotspots
This British work is designed to assist in the identification and management of suicide ‘hotspots’ or particular geographic areas and sites where suicides are likely to occur. It offers guidance on appropriate steps to improve safety and deter acts of suicide at those locations.
Preventing Suicide: A resource for counsellors
This resource provides guidance for counselors to understand suicide risk and prevention. It discusses the scope of the problem, assessment and management of suicidal behavior, special populations, risk and protective factors and hope to cope with the suicide of a client.
The booklet is part of a series addressed to specific social and professional groups that are particularly relevant to the prevention of suicide and released under the auspices of SUPRE, an IASP/WHO worldwide initiative for the prevention of suicide.
Preventing Suicide: A Resource at Work
This resource provides guidance for employers, union officers, EAPs, personnel directors and workers toward the creation of a mentally healthy workforce. It discusses suicide and occupation, creating a supportive work environment, ensuring that help resources are in place, ways in which management and workers can assist a suicidal colleague and what to do in the event of a worker suicide.
The booklet is part of a series addressed to specific social and professional groups that are particularly relevant to the prevention of suicide and released under the auspices of SUPRE, an IASP/WHO worldwide initiative for the prevention of suicide.
Framework for developing institutional protocols for the acutely distressed or suicidal college student
![Framework for developing institutional protocols for the acutely distressed or suicidal college student](http://sprc.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Guidelines-Resources_Basic_795x292px_0.png)
This publication lists key issues to consider in developing a comprehensive, campus-wide approach to managing at-risk students.
Program Description:
Developed by the Jed Foundation, the Framework for Developing Institutional Protocols for the Acutely Distressed or Suicidal College Student provides colleges and universities, regardless of size, culture, and resources, with a list of issues to consider when drafting or revising protocols relating to the management of the student in acute distress or at risk for suicide. It is divided into the following three sections, each of which is structured as a series of questions:
- Developing a safety protocol;
- Developing an emergency contact notification protocol; and,
- Developing a leave of absence and re-entry protocol.
Program Objectives:
Users of the Framework should:
- Develop formalized safety, emergency contact notification, and medical leave/re-entry protocols that reflect case-by-case decision-making in the best interests of students.
- Enhance communication between those campus and community constituencies who are or could be involved in addressing student mental health issues.
- Improve crisis management around the acutely distressed or suicidal student by implementing safety, emergency contact notification, and medical leave/re-entry protocols.
- Increase understanding of the essential strategic areas of a comprehensive, campus-wide suicide prevention and mental health promotion action plan.
Sudden death-suicide-critical incident: Crisis response for principals and student services staff
Geared primarily toward principals, this guide lists specific procedures for coordinating a school’s response to a sudden death, suicide, or other critical incident. Annotated checklists for principals, supported by handouts for school staff, guide school actions to communicate information to various audiences, provide support and services if needed, and prevent contagion.