Resource Types: Video/Audio Recording

During the COVID-19 pandemic, opportunities for mental health professionals to connect with clients in person are limited. Yet the emotional impact of the pandemic—social isolation, financial concerns, anxiety, loss—place many people at increased risk for suicide.

In the short videos that follow, Dr. Barbara Stanley, professor of medical psychology at Columbia University and director of the Suicide Prevention – Training, Implementation, and Evaluation Program at the New York State Psychiatric Institute, provides concrete tips for making sure clients stay safe without having to rely on hospitalization.

These videos were adapted from the SPRC webinar Treating Suicidal Patients During COVID-19: Best Practices and Telehealth.

Initiating and Maintaining Remote Contact
Hear recommendations for initiating and maintaining remote contact with clients who may be at risk for suicide, with an emphasis on gathering specific information to access the client and their supports in the event of an emergency, preparing for technology interruptions, and best practices to include at every visit.

Assessing Suicide Risk
Learn tips for assessing the suicide risk of clients remotely.

Developing a Safety Plan Remotely
Listen to guidance on developing a safety plan remotely, highlighting how the process is the same—and different—from safety planning in person.

Additional Resources

• COVID-19: Adult Suicide Risk Screening Pathway and COVID-19: Youth Suicide Risk Screening Pathway – Use these suicide risk screening pathways from the National Institute of Mental Health’s Ask Suicide-Screening Questions (ASQ) Toolkit during telehealth screenings (e.g., phone, video).
• Patient Safety Plan Template – Use this fill-in-the-blank template to develop a safety plan with a patient who is at increased risk for a suicide attempt.

Suicide attempt survivors are most vulnerable in the days and weeks after an attempt. What aftercare can you or your hospital provide to help reduce re-attempts and suicide deaths?

In this brief video, Diana Cortez Yañez, a suicide attempt survivor and lived experience consultant, shares the value of aftercare and what hospitals can do to help patients safely navigate transitions in care. She provides specific examples, such as the following:

• A safety plan to use after leaving the hospital
• Contact from the hospital after discharge
• Appointments set up with an outpatient provider

Culturally relevant suicide prevention strategies that are endorsed by community members can lead to long-lasting change. The following six-to-eight-minute webinar clips, adapted from SPRC’s Tribal Community of Learning Series, feature expert advice on addressing the root causes of mental health issues and suicide in American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) communities by drawing on community strengths.

Weaving Culture into Suicide Prevention Strategies

Rob England of the Yurok Tribe and United Indian Health Services, Inc., highlights the merits of weaving culture into evidence-based suicide prevention strategies to engage multiple generations of Native community members in prevention efforts that are effective and transformative.

Four Recommendations for Tribal Suicide Prevention

Dr. Melissa Walls of the Bois Forte and Couchiching First Nations Ojibwe discusses four recommendations for suicide prevention in AI/AN communities: assess the impact of structural influences on suicide; target early life course factors to improve outcomes; identify cultural influences on prevention; and listen to indigenous voices.                        

Honoring Culture and Building Partnerships

Panganga Pungowiyi describes how individual, community, and institutional partnerships, using a multi-pronged approach with a focus on capacity building, can help address the root causes of mental health issues and suicide and lead to long-lasting environmental and policy change

Adapting Evidence-Based Practices in Tribal Communities

Esther Tenorio of the San Felipe Pueblo Health and Wellness Department and Dr. Deborah Altschul of the University of New Mexico discuss the process of working with AI/AN communities to select, modify, implement, and evaluate evidence-based practices to ensure cultural fit.

Additional Resources

• Working with Native Communities – Read this Director’s Corner to learn more about how to involve AI/AN communities when developing suicide prevention programs – and why it’s important.
• To Live to See the Great Day That Dawns: Preventing Suicide by American Indian and Alaska Native Youth and Young Adults – Use this guide to develop effective, culturally appropriate suicide prevention plans.
• Virtual Learning Lab: Partnerships – Use this module to learn more about community collaboration around suicide prevention and the process of establishing and maintaining partnerships.
• Toolkit for Modifying Evidence-Based Practices to Increase Cultural Competence – Use this toolkit to help your mental health services organization better meet the needs of the cultural groups you serve.
• Guidance for Culturally Adapting Gatekeeper Trainings – Learn about questions to guide the cultural adaptation of gatekeeper training programs and to improve community ownership and cultural fit.
• Alaska Native Dialogues on Racial Equity Toolkit – Use this toolkit to help guide meaningful and effective dialogue about racial equity and racial healing.

Examples Presented by the Speakers

• Ko’l Ho Koom’ Mo (Working Together) – This youth suicide prevention program takes a culturally competent, community-based approach to enhancing protective factors.
• Family Spirit – This culturally tailored home visiting program promotes health and well-being for parents and their children.
• The Eagala Model – The Eagala (Equine-Assisted Growth and Learning Association) Model incorporates horses into mental health treatment.
• Promoting Community Conversations About Research to End Suicide (PC CARES) – This culturally adapted community health intervention designed, supported, and implemented by remote communities of Northwest Alaska includes many of the strategies mentioned in the webinar clips.

Strategic planning is key to developing effective communication materials for suicide prevention. The following five-to-six-minute webinar clips feature expert advice on developing a communication plan, understanding your audience, and evaluating your efforts. Adapted from SPRC’s Strategic Communication Workshop Series, each video has a free, downloadable worksheet to help you put these skills into practice.

Introduction to Strategic Communication Planning

SPRC Director of Grantee and State Initiatives Kerri Nickerson discusses the importance of strategic communication planning and walks through the key components of successful communication materials. Use the accompanying worksheet to develop your communication plan.

Understanding and Reaching Your Audience: We R Native

Stephanie Craig Rushing, project director at the Northwest Portland Area Indian Health Board, discusses how We R Native engages its target audience to develop messaging that resonates with tribal youth. Use the accompanying worksheet to identify the best messaging and channels to reach your audience

Understanding and Reaching Your Audience: South Carolina

Suicide Prevention Trainer/Coordinator Robert Cottingham describes how the South Carolina Youth Suicide Prevention Initiative (SCYSPI) is working with youth to plan and implement their social media efforts. Use the accompanying worksheet to identify the best messaging and channels to reach your audience

Evaluating Your Communication Efforts

Rajeev Ramchand, senior behavioral scientist at RAND Corporation, presents key evaluation concepts and questions to consider when creating an evaluation plan for communication efforts. Use the accompanying worksheet to help evaluate your communication efforts.

Additional Resources

• Action Alliance Framework for Successful Messaging – Learn the four critical issues to consider when messaging to the public about suicide.
• Creating Linguistically and Culturally Competent Suicide Prevention Materials – Walk through eight steps to make your communication materials more culturally competent.
• Strategic Communication Workshop Series – Watch this three-part webinar series to learn more about strategic communication for suicide prevention. 
• Massachusetts Technical Assistance Partnership for Prevention Communications Toolkit – Explore this interactive toolkit to help make your messaging more effective.

Examples Presented by the Speakers

• We R Native – Visit this online health resource developed for Native youth by Native youth.
• South Carolina Youth Suicide Prevention Initiative (SCYSPI) – See examples of how SCYSPI is messaging to youth.

This nine-minute video describes five brief interventions which can be used to prevent suicide prior to discharge from emergency departments.

• Brief patient education helps patients understand their condition, treatment and follow-up strategies.
• Safety plans are developed collaboratively with clinicians guiding patients to identify coping strategies and resources patients can use before or during a suicidal crisis.
• Lethal means counseling engages patients in a discussion to limit access to means of suicide until they no longer feel suicidal.
• Rapid referral schedules follow-up mental health appointments within 24 hours of discharge. Caring contacts consists of ongoing contact with discharged patients via postcards, letters, phone calls or various other media. 

In these two brief videos, David Jobes  describes evidence-based psychological treatments and suicide-specific brief interventions for people who have attempted or are at risk for suicide.

Evidence-Based Psychological Treatments

This video covers three types of evidence-based, suicide-specific
treatments:

• Dialectical Behavior Therapy 
• Two forms of suicide-specific cognitive behavioral therapy
• Collaborative Assessment and Management of Suicidality 

Suicide-Specific Brief Interventions

This video covers four evidence-based brief interventions for
suicide:

• Teachable Moment Brief Intervention 
• Motivational Interviewing
• Safety Planning
• Attempted Suicide Short Intervention Program 

Created by the Suicide Prevention Resource Center, Education Development Center, and Universal Health Systems.

To find more resources about evidence-based treatments for suicide, go to http://zerosuicide.sprc.org/toolkit/treat.