Media portrayals of suicide can influence behavior in a positive manner by encouraging help-seeking or negatively by increasing contagion. Based on the Recommendations for Reporting on Suicide, the following provides guidance for developing messages about Veteran suicide in a safe and ethical manner.
Resource Types: Guidelines/Recommendations
National Recommendations for Depicting Suicide
This resource provides the first-ever national recommendations for depicting suicide in entertainment content. Studies have found that the way the media covers suicide can influence behavior negatively, by contributing to increased suicidal behavior among viewers, or positively, by encouraging help-seeking and recovery. These recommendations aim to help members of the entertainment industry—content creators, scriptwriters, producers—tell more balanced and authentic stories involving suicide that promote hope and healing. Representatives from the entertainment industry and the suicide prevention field provided input on the recommendations, which advance goal four of the National Strategy for Suicide Prevention.
#chatsafe: A young person’s guide for communicating safely online about suicide
The #chatsafe guidelines are intended to help young people to communicate safely online about suicide. They were developed using the Delphi consensus methodology that draws on expert opinions to identify best practice.
Sections include: Before you post anything about suicide; Sharing your own thoughts/feelings/experiences online; Communicating about someone at risk; Responding to someone at risk; and Memorial websites/pages/groups.
Recommended CSTE indicators for suicide among American Indians and Alaska Natives
This resource guide identifies and describes indicators of suicidal behavior and associated mental health and substance abuse risk factors using data specific to AI/AN populations that can be used for routine surveillance.
National strategy for preventing veteran suicide, 2018–2028
The VA developed the National Strategy for Preventing Veteran Suicide in alignment with the 2012 National Strategy for Suicide Prevention. The purpose is to provide a framework for identifying priorities and organizing efforts for Veteran suicide prevention over the next several years. Data and figures referred to in this strategy reflect the most current, publicly available data at the time of publication.
Recommended standard care for people with suicide risk: Making health care suicide safe
These guidelines provide the first-ever recommendations on suicide-related standard health care for primary care, behavioral health, and emergency department settings. Since the majority (64 percent) of people who attempt suicide visit a doctor in the month before their attempt, it is essential that people who are at risk for suicide receive timely access to effective treatments and services. The new recommendations, developed with public and private sector experts, researchers, clinicians and consumers, present feasible, practical, evidence-based actions that health care organizations can adopt immediately.
Issues in developing a surveillance case definition for nonfatal suicide attempt and intentional self-harm using ICD–10–CM coded data.
This guidelines assist injury researchers and practitioners to correctly use coded ICD-10 data for nonfatal suicide attempts and intentional self-harm due to various means.
National Health Statistics Reports; no 108.
Guidelines for integrated suicide-related crisis and follow-up care in emergency departments and other acute settings
Patients and ED staff are often dissatisfied with ED care expressing a lack of ongoing support, rapid discharge and patients often left to manage their own care. These guidelines address how to follow up with patients reporting to EDs after a suicide attempt to ensure safe and secure continuity of care to prevent future attempts.
A framework of recommendations for colleges and universities to support the mental health of students of color
The Equity in Mental Health Framework, a joint project of the JED Foundation and the Steve Fund conducted a data review of surveys of college students of color and programs to promote mental wellness among them. These results let them to draft a set of recommendations which were reviewed by 130 experts in higher education at a one day summit in NYC resulting in this finalized set of recommendations and implementation strategies.
Special report: Suicide prevention in health care settings, recommendations regarding environmental hazards for providers and surveyors
These recommendations were generated in 2017 by an expert panel in order to ensure the safety of inpatients at risk for suicide. They concern ligature points and continuous observation. The expert panel will continue to meet to discuss issues related to prevention of suicide in health care settings and the period immediately after discharge from inpatient care.