KENTUCKY: Louisville seeks answers to rising suicide rate
October 09, 2015
Louisville hopes to reduce suicides among its residents with a citywide strategy developed by its Safe and Healthy Neighborhoods department. The department convened a 25-member working group which recently released the One Love Louisville plan, calling for improvements to the region’s suicide hotline, training for school staff and religious leaders, and programs that would encourage employers to implement workplace protocols. Some of the initiatives will be focused on white men over age 25 in a specific area of the county, a group that recent data show that to be at higher risk than others. Other city and state agencies are also taking action, developing programs to address childhood trauma and reaching out to people eligible for mental health services under the Affordable Care Act.
Spark Extra! Read a Surveillance Success Story about Kentucky’s innovative efforts to improve suicide prevention in its public mental health care system.