Suicide Prevention in York & North Yorkshire

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1 Suicide Prevention in York & North Yorkshire Nic Streatfield Head of Student Services York St John University Psychotherapist Andy Chapman Senior Suicide Prevention Co-ordinator York & North Yorkshire

2 What does the data say? HMG Preventing Suicide in England rates of death from suicide and undetermined intent 8 per 100, x more common for males at 12.4 per 100,000 compared to 3.7 for females For year olds the rate is 9.6 per 100,000 (males 14.3, females 3.5)

3 York & North Yorkshire data Directly Standardised Rate per 100, Number of Suicides North Yorkshire CC - Numbers North Yorkshire CC ENGLAND Linear (North Yorkshire CC) Linear (ENGLAND)

4 York & North Yorkshire data Directly Standardised Rate per 100, York UA - Numbers York UA ENGLAND Linear (York UA) Linear (ENGLAND) Number of Suicides

5 National strategies England no health without mental health HMG (2011) Preventing Suicide in England - HMG (2012) Preventing Suicide in England One year on HMG (2012) National Suicide Prevention Alliance

6 HMG- Preventing Suicide in England Key areas 1: Reduce the risk of suicide in key high-risk groups 2: Tailor approaches to improve mental health in specific groups 3: Reduce access to the means of suicide 4: Provide better information and support to those bereaved or affected by suicide 5: Support the media in delivering sensitive approaches to suicide and suicidal behaviour 6: Support research, data collection and monitoring.

7 Many people who die by suicide have given warnings of their intentions to family and friends. Most suicidal people are undecided about living or dying. Part of them wants to live. Another part feels trapped or hopeless. They sometimes gamble with death talking about or attempting suicide in a way that leaves room for other people to save them. That s why understanding the warning signs, and acting quickly to get help, is so important halfofus.com

8 Exercise 1 In groups discuss what you do in your organisation to prevent suicide in young people?

9 Exercise 2 How well do our agencies work together to prevent suicide in young people?

10 Example of working together 1 The University of Dundee based their Suicide reduction initiative on the Scottish Governments national strategy on reducing suicide. 4 aspects to it - awareness, detection, intervention and postvention They Bought the Choose Life ( programmes and Between 2005 and 2015 trained more than 4,000 students and staff in the following courses: suicidetalk, safetalk, ASIST and SMHFA. Work has been done with those who received the training to keep up to date with developments and to help them in their new role. The university engaged with the Dundee and Angus Counties and developed a working relationship that allowed the university to receive external funding and also to deliver these courses to wider community.

11 Example of working together 2 Surrey University Mental Health Advisor regularly attends the Surrey Suicide Prevention Strategy group, which is organised by Surrey County Council Public Health Team. The group meets quarterly, membership includes service users, council and NHS trust staff, GP s, CCG staff, third sector staff (MIND, Rethink, Richmond Fellowship, Samaritans etc.), faith leaders and armed forces representatives. The overall aims are to collate data, discuss trends, exchange ideas, share information about initiatives and establish collaborative approaches to identifying and managing risk factors with the most efficient use of resources possible. Outcomes have included suicide prevention training for staff working in any organisation that comes into contact with vulnerable people and distributed materials that can help member organisations develop policies and procedures.

12 Is this a suicide prevention intervention? So, with my sleeping pill stash finished, the next best option seemed to be to find a building taller than 10 stories to jump off. Found a block of flats, but no roof access! So went to a nearby hotel which must have been at least 15 stories high. But again, roof access locked. And no windows in the stairwell opened. So I was standing there, in there stairwell, wondering how the hell I could find a window that would open, when my sister rang. She asked if I'd come over and watch a DVD with my niece. Didn't want to, but she talked me round - maybe she sniffed the depression in my voice. In the company of family, the hold that suicide had over me was broken.

13 it is a mistake to see suicide prevention as being primarily concerned with crisis response. What we need to engender throughout is a forward looking approach which enshrines the concept of hope

14 Exercise 3 Discuss the suicide prevention training that you have had? What training would you want? Should we all receive the same training?

15 Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training

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17 Specific training is important Staff biggest fear was a student disclosing suicidal thoughts: their fear was born from feeling they were not equipped to offer a professional response, feared they would say the wrong thing and they would be to blame if someone took their own life and they were the last person to speak to them Training for staff increases likelihood of identifying individuals in distress; increased confidence in responding to individuals in distress; increased likelihood of emergency services being alerted in time. Training Starts from the assumption that suicidal thoughts need to be taken seriously and met with empathy and understanding on every occasion. Many suicidal individuals are ambivalent about living or dying. Increasing hopefulness, resilience and reasons for living have been shown to reduce suicide risk

18 Suicide Safer Communities Leadership - A leadership committee comprised of community organisations and individuals exists to assume a leadership position focused on suicide prevention, intervention and postvention. Action Plan - An action plan based on systemic processes and evidence based methods for promoting suicide prevention and building capacity has been developed. Access to Services - A significant improvement to access of suicide intervention services with 24 hour support Gatekeeper training - Investments are made in training community gatekeepers evidence that an appropriate number of suicide prevention gatekeepers have been trained in relationship to the population size or plans for gatekeeper training has been included in the community suicide prevention action plan. Suicide Bereavement - Postvention resources and support are easily accessible to support those bereaved by a suicide death. Commitment to Mental Health - A thoughtful and comprehensive plan is in place to inform the community about mental health and wellbeing. Commitment to Raising Awareness - Every year the community gathers to mark World Suicide Prevention Day on September 10th to raise awareness and celebrate the community s progress in suicide prevention.

19 Useful websites

20 Thank you