ANNUAL REPORT

Transcription

1 ANNUAL REPORT

2 A Message from the President and Executive Director... 4 Education Director s Message... 5 Workshops... 8 Information Services... 9 Communications...11 Donors Our People contents Prevention starts here Much of the photography that appears in this report was contributed by our staff members. Attributions p.2: Hilary Sirman, p.3: Mara Grunau, p.5-6: Lauren Côté, p.8: Charleen McPhail, p.11: Brenda Ann Taylor, p.13: Diane Yackel, p.14: Crystal Walker, p.15: Diane Yackel Centre for Suicide Prevention Annual Report Centre for Suicide Prevention Annual Report

3 A MESSAGE FROM THE President & Executive director The vision of the Centre for Suicide Prevention is to educate everyone, particularly those in health care, education, social services, and justice. Our community needs are increasing and there are not enough trained responders. We conduct around 350 workshops per year in our province of Alberta, yet there is demand and need for more. Our society is changing and we are facing new challenges in suicide prevention. There are everincreasing pressures on families, schools, and social structures and there are ever-increasing demands on the public dollars allocated through government spending. Suicide is becoming more visible: more reported in the media, more discussed in the community. The challenges within Aboriginal communities are great and the issue of suicide in seniors is growing at an alarming rate. We at CSP offer over 30 years of expertise and commitment to servicing our community. Our mandate is to protect vulnerable people through prevention. Together with our highly experienced network of Mentors and Trainers, we work with social agencies and government departments to equip people to respond to the risk of suicide. Through training workshops, knowledge translation publications, web contact and our online Aboriginal River of Life suicide prevention course we educate a wide and diverse population throughout Alberta and beyond. The pride Albertans can have in knowing we are located here, working hard to serve this province and all Canadians, is of great value to every level of society. Carmelle Hunka President, Board of Directors Diane Yackel, BScN, MA, FT Executive Director Centre for Suicide Prevention Annual Report Centre for Suicide Prevention 4 Annual Report

4 Education director s message The Centre for Suicide Prevention (CSP) is a not-for-profit education centre. We educate: train, inform, discuss and impart knowledge about suicide in hopes of increasing awareness and reducing stigma around this significant cause of death. We want to foster a community where people at risk of suicide are recognized, engaged and cared for by those around them: suicide is everybody s business. Who uses our services? CSP has a wide and varied group of service recipients. We educate hundreds of individuals and groups including non-profit organizations, Aboriginal communities, government agencies and departments, private sector companies and the general public. We believe that everyone needs to learn about suicide prevention; we spread our impact as widely as possible. We educate in many ways. The teaching and learning cycle at CSP is fully integrated in all we do. We collect information (scholarly journals, books, grey literature) and translate it into op-ed columns, resource toolkits, media interviews, special presentations and workshop curricula. We take the publications, interviews, presentations and workshops to the community and bring back community feedback which informs further development. How effective are we? Health promotion initiatives are difficult to measure but what we can measure with confidence is how many participants attend our workshops, how many columns we publish and how many people sign up to receive our information services: the numbers continue to rise. People want to learn about suicide and how they can help prevent it. Our overall reach is growing. Stigma around suicide may continue but bit by bit, our community is becoming more informed about this daunting social issue. Policy, Research & Advocacy Involvement CSP is involved with many other organizations all working to further suicide prevention. Some of our partners include: Canadian Association for Suicide Prevention (CASP) Canadian Mental Health Association - National LivingWorks International Collaborative Committee McMaster Health Forum Media National Collaborative for Suicide Prevention (together with the Mental Health Commission of Canada, Public Health Agency of Canada, CASP, Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the First Nations and Inuit Health Branch, and others) Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, The University of Western Ontario We also provide research support for the media, many social agencies and government departments Mara Grunau, BEd, MPA Education Director Centre for Suicide Prevention 5 Annual Report Centre for Suicide Prevention 6 Annual Report

5 Trainers Mentors Workshops Trainers A diverse network of 155 Trainers facilitate our workshops throughout Alberta and beyond. workshops 155 Trainers and 16 Mentors were directed, supported, and encouraged in delivering 380 workshops. Alberta Canada Outside of Canada ASIST 125 n/a n/a safetalk 12 n/a n/a Straight Talk Tattered Teddies River of Life Total Trainers* *Trainers may facilitate multiple workshops Workshops Our workshops provide skill and knowledge-based suicide-prevention learning for community members. Alberta Canada & USA Participants Learning Hours ASIST 212 n/a 4,145 58,020 ASIST Tune-Up 52 n/a 527 2,108 safetalk 44 n/a 780 2,730 Straight Talk ,967 Tattered Teddies ,692 Total ,527 Centre for Suicide Prevention Annual Report Centre for Suicide Prevention 8 Annual Report

6 Library Collection Our library contains more than 42,000 documents, with over 900 documents added this year. ie: infoexchange An opinion-editorial column examining relevant topics in the field of suicide. This publication informs and engages the reader in the suicide conversation. Four new ies were published this year. Resource Toolkits A printed resource which aggregates information about a specific at-risk group. Information presented includes statistics, warning signs, risk and protective factors, related links, programs and further reading. Four new Toolkits were published this year. Curriculum Development We have two new workshops currently under development: suicide prevention in children in Aboriginal communities, and bereavement in Aboriginal communities. These projects have been made possible by The Calgary Foundation and The Kayak Foundation at The Calgary Foundation. information services More than 42,000 total documents More than 900 documents added this year including 8 original resources Twitter Our number of Twitter followers continues to grow! At the time of printing, over 2,900 people are following our Twitter feed and our Klout score, indicating our reach, is 56. This is comparable to CBC Edmonton and Calgary, whose scores are 64. Follow us Website Our website continues to be a rich resource for people looking for information about suicide prevention. Our analytics indicate that our site has more than 75,000 visits annually. All of our original resources are available as free downloads on our website. Subscriptions More than 4,000 people subscribe to our list; nearly 400 signed up this past year. Centre for Suicide Prevention 9 Annual Report Centre for Suicide Prevention Annual Report

7 2,900+ TWITTER followers REPORT ABORIGINAL AGENCIES, FIRST NATIONS HOSPITALS, UNIVERSITIES, SCHOOLS CRISIS CENTRES, MEDIA OUTLETS, CLINICS Our dream is a world without suicide. We work to empower each person. Our hope is that our programs, training and information will save even one life. Through our communication we link people who care and teach with those more fragile and vulnerable. We work with our Aboriginal communities as they support their youth and struggling members. Cyberbullying and bereavement are two areas of focus. The effort to be a conduit of information sharing among healthcare, social services, education and justice is a primary concern. We believe in the courage, strength and resilience of each human being. communications COUNSELLORS, PSYCHOLOGISTS, THERAPISTS POLITICIANS, FIRST RESPONDERS, EMS, POLICE FIRE FIGHTERS, CHIEFS, JOURNALISTS, AUTHORS RESEARCH INSTITUTIONS MEDICAL ASSOCIATIONS PSYCHIATRIC ASSOCIATIONS GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENTS MENTAL HEALTH ORGANIZATIONS NURSES, DOCTORS STUDENTS, PARENTS PRINCIPALS, TEACHERS Centre for Suicide Prevention 11 Annual Report Centre for Suicide Prevention Annual Report

8 BOARD Carmelle Hunka, President Linda Beaton, Vice-President David Dart, Secretary-Treasurer William Bone, Director Kathleen Cloutier, Director Lisa Cuthill, Director on Leave Michael Power, Director Rodney Truax, Director Donors The Community Grants Program The Kayak Foundation at The Calgary Foundation Thank you to Cenovus for generously donating furniture and electronic equipment Community Spirit Program Author Theanna Bischoff Staff Diane Yackel, BScN, MA, FT Lauren Côté, BA Marlene Deimert Mara Grunau, BEd, MPA Karin Lavoie, BMus, MLIS Charleen McPhail Robert Olson, BA, MLIS Hilary Sirman, BA, BEd, MPA Brenda Ann Taylor, BEd, MCS Brenda Vanderwal Crystal Walker Ed Yuen, RSW associates Andrea Ingstrup, BN MN Candidate Suzanne McLeod, BA, MA PhD Candidate our people Individual and Memorial Donors Centre for Suicide Prevention 13 Annual Report Centre for Suicide Prevention 14 Annual Report

9 I hear babies cry... I watch them grow. They ll learn much more... than I ll ever know. And I think to myself... what a wonderful world! Lyrics by Bob Thiele and George David Weiss First recorded by Louis Armstrong Suicide prevention begins with each of us.