Resource Types: Guidelines/Recommendations

Responding to an executive order issued by the president, the CDC commissioned the Institute of Medicine to convene a committee tasked with developing a potential research agenda that focuses on the causes of, possible interventions to, and strategies to minimize the burden of firearm-related violence (homicide, suicide as well as harm to others and self-harm). The committee’s proposed research agenda, designed to produce results in 3 to 5 years, focuses on the characteristics of firearm violence, risk and protective factors, interventions and strategies, the impact of gun safety technology, and the influence of video games and other media.

The guideline describes the critical decision points in the management of Suicidal Risk Behavior (SRB) for suicidal self-directed violent behavior and provides clear and comprehensive evidence-based recommendations incorporating current information and practices for practitioners throughout the DoD and VA Health Care systems. The guideline is intended to improve patient outcomes and local management of patients with SRB.

Disclaimer:This Clinical Practice Guideline is intended for use only as a tool to assist a clinician/healthcare professional and should not be used to replace clinical judgment.

These resources were developed for organizations with an online presence such as a website, blog, or Twitter, Facebook, YouTube accounts, that may encounter someone suicidal. Three levels of response to suicidal ideation or intent ranging from basic to advanced were developed by industry and mental health experts and presented in chart form.

Responding to a Cry for Help: Best Practices for Online Technologies provides recommendations for the development of policies and resources that decrease suicide risk amongst users of online technologies. The recommendations are organized into basic, mid-level and advanced levels.  Basic recommendations address providing help, policies for responding to suicide content, and referrals. Mid-level recommendations address guidelines, user reporting, partnerships, contextual messaging, and education. Advanced recommendations address timely response, outreach, and cultural competency. 

Officials from online technology companies and suicide prevention professionals had two face-to-face meetings to discuss and create the recommendations. The recommendations were further refined through a review of relevant literature, additional expert review, and discussions. The initial meeting was conducted by Daniel Reidenberg of Suicide Awareness Voices of Education (SAVE) and officials from Facebook, Google, YouTube, Microsoft, Tumbler, Twitter, WordPress, Yahoo, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, the Suicide Research Unit—Medical University of Vienna, and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

Research regarding suicide prevention amongst users of online technologies is in its infancy. There remains is still much to be learned. It is therefore important to acknowledge that these recommendations are based upon the best available knowledge and are subject to revision as more is learned.

Program Objectives:

Organizations that use the Responding to a Cry for Help: Best Practices for Online Technologies will have:
1.Increased knowledge of suicide prevention resources for technology platforms and social media.
2.Increased knowledge of how technology platforms and social media can help reduce suicide risk amongst online technology users.

This toolkit is based on a model of three interconnected arches: organizational structure, engagement, and services/activities/interventions. Together, the arches provide the support to create a solid foundation for the Safe Schools/Healthy Students (SS/HS) initiative.

This plan serves as a guide for reducing the eight leading causes of injury in Hawai‘i, which include suicide. It builds on the previous Hawai‘i Injury Prevention Plan 2005-2010 and provides recommendations for 2012-2017.

This document outlines best practices for suicide loss and suicide attempt survivors who are considering sharing their story with the public. The best practices were created by a group of experts in the suicide prevention community and include information on: assessing readiness to speak; considering family reactions and potential social ramifications; resources for safe messaging; speaking to the media; self-care; and other considerations.

This report provides a framework for assessing the value of community-based, non-clinical prevention policies and wellness strategies.  Community-based prevention interventions offer three distinct strengths. First, because the intervention is implemented population-wide it is inclusive and not dependent on access to a health care system. Second, by directing strategies at an entire population an intervention can reach individuals at all levels of risk. And finally, some lifestyle and behavioral risk factors are shaped by conditions not under an individual’s control. For example, encouraging an individual to eat healthy food when none is accessible undermines the potential for successful behavioral change. Community-based prevention interventions can be designed to affect environmental and social conditions that are out of the reach of clinical services.

This document reports on a meeting convened in Washington DC to identify opportunities and challenges associated with enhancing collaboration between death reviews for the purpose of improving outcomes across the lifespan. Thirty-seven state and national leaders of death review programs such as CDR, FIMR, MMR, DVFR, CRP, and EAFR programs gathered with twelve federal partners to affirm the importance of joint reviews and to develop guidance for states to enhance coordination across review processes.
The meeting led to affirmation among participants that collaboration is important and can be a catalyst for moving from reviews to prevention. While not all participants believed extensive coordination across all reviews is feasible, most participants acknowledged that substantial benefits for improving prevention outcomes from reviews could be realized through improving coordination.