Canada leads global suicide prevention study

The StarPhoenix

Canada will lead an eight-nation study of suicide prevention strategies in the regions of the globe that surround the North Pole. Several of the countries in the circumpolar region have tracked high suicide rates among their northern, indigenous populations. Researchers have already begun work on the project in Canada, the United States, Norway, and Denmark, and hope to visit Northern aboriginal communities in all participating countries. Malcolm King, science director for the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, which is coordinating the study, noted that suicide in these groups tends especially to affect people in their mid-twenties and younger. “A common thread that’s emerged in a lot of this so far is what we might call cultural continuity,” he said. “It issues around formation of identity, and disconnections with the community. That may not sit as a cause in mainstream thinking, but it certainly has been talked about a lot as a common thread among indigenous peoples.”

Spark Extra! Learn about effective and promising practices for suicide prevention in American Indian and Alaska Native communities.