Our Next Big Challenge: Bringing Best Practices to Scale

The field of suicide prevention has made great strides in documenting best practices. As of September 2012, there were 106 programs listed on the Best Practices Registry with 13 more in review. I see our next challenge as bringing these practices “to scale” – that is,  disseminating this information to the practice community and making resources available so these interventions can be replicated in communities across the United States and, ultimately, contribute to a measurable decline in the nation’s suicide rate.

Let me offer two examples of how this can be accomplished. The 2012 National Strategy for Suicide Prevention cites an example from the United Kingdom in which the suicide rate was dramatically reduced in the catchment areas of mental health service providers implementing at least seven of nine recommendations made by an expert panel. In 1998, virtually none of the United Kingdom’s 91 National Health Service mental health service providers had implemented any of the practices called for in these recommendations. By 2006, 71 percent of the service providers were implementing an average of 7.2 practices each, resulting in a marked decrease in the suicide rate – a decrease not seen among the patients of providers implementing fewer of these practices. In the United States, the Henry Ford Healthcare System’s Perfect Depression Program resulted in a significant drop in the suicide rate among its patients in just four years. By setting a zero suicide goal in their health care system, they are documenting impressive results. There is no reason that we cannot achieve similar successes on a national level. We need to disseminate and apply our best practices to achieve the kind of impact envisioned by the Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention in its goal to save 20,000 lives over five years.

We must not underestimate the resources necessary to disseminate and implement successful interventions. We should be speaking to those in the public and private sectors who are in a position to provide and apply these resources. We must not simply look to the federal government for resources but also look to states, corporations, and foundations. The last twenty years have taught us a great deal about how to prevent suicide. Now is the time to turn our attention to action by bringing best practices to scale.

For more information on the examples from the United Kingdom and the Henry Ford Healthcare System used in this blog, see Preventing Suicide with Mental Health Service Policies and Practices and Depression Care Program Eliminates Suicide.

Best,

Jerry Reed, Ph.D., MSW
SPRC Director