THE TEAM

Veterans Services of the Carolinas

Veterans Coalition Crystal Coast

American Foundation for Suicide Prevention – North Carolina Chapter

The Stephen A. Cohen Military Family Clinic at Cape Fear Valley

Veterans Bridge Home

Stop Solider Suicide

RESOURCES

• The NC Toolkit was developed to improve service delivery and intake data accuracy for Service Members, Veterans, and Families (SMVF) in community healthcare and provider settings. Its intent is to facilitate the engagement of SMVF throughout the State. Included in its contents is the Ask the Question campaign, which is a strategy for identifying SMVF. In addition, the toolkit provides culturally competent military information and education about specific needs and conditions, which may affect SMVF.

• US Department of Veterans Affairs – Suicide is the number one clinical priority for the US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). This webpage is directed toward Veterans and significant others in the Veteran’s life. It provides tips on who to contact for immediate and ongoing support; signs that indicate that someone may be considering self-harm; and related health problems such as military sexual trauma, substance use problems, post-traumatic stress disorder, and depression.
• The VA has divided the country into Veterans Integrated Service Networks or VISNs. Each VISN has a Mental Illness Research, Education, and Clinical Center (MIRECC); each MIRECC has its own mental health focus. The mission of the Rocky Mountain MIRECC 19 for Veteran Suicide Prevention is to study suicide with the goal of reducing suicidal ideation and behaviors in the Veteran population. Towards this end, the work of the Rocky Mountain MIRECC is focused on promising clinical interventions, as well as the cognitive and neurobiological underpinnings of suicidal thoughts and behaviors that may lead to innovative prevention strategies.
  
  One of the MIRECC’s resources includes a highly recommended three-part video series on upstream suicide prevention: (1) human flourishing, (2) stress and resilience, and (3) demographic considerations. Each video is about an hour in length.
• VISN 2 hosts the Center for Excellence for Suicide Prevention (CoE); its mission is to reduce morbidity and mortality associated with Veteran suicide and self-directed violence. It uses a comprehensive public health approach in its research and education.
• Funded by the US Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), the Suicide Prevention Resource Center provides free resources, programs, and trainings to users. It also provides technical assistance and support to other SAMHSA grantees–Garrett Lee Smith Suicide Prevention grantees, National Strategy for Suicide Prevention grantees, and Zero Suicide grantees–which address suicide prevention.
• Violence and Suicide Prevention Center, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention hosts a website that has factsheets for suicide prevention; tips for parents, kids and teens, and school personnel; a downloadable document that identifies strategies to assist communities to prevent suicide; and other resources.
• The VISN 2 COE and the VISN 19 MIRECC have partnered to host a webpage on Uniting for Suicide Postvention. It provides support for individuals who have experienced loss through suicide– community members, providers, and employers and employees.
• The Division of Public Health, NC Department of Health and Human Services uses Preventive Health and Health Services Block Grant funding to administer the Healthy Communities Program. The aim of this program is to reduce the burden of chronic disease and injury in North Carolina. In January 2020, the Division issued strategies associated with this program. Strategy #2 addresses suicide prevention, which can be downloaded here: Healthy Communities Strategy #2: Suicide Prevention, Division of Public Health, NC Department of Health and Human Services
• The Injury and Violence Prevention Branch, Division of Public Health, NC DHHS has general information about suicide prevention as well as North Carolina statistics related to suicides. The most recent statistics on Veteran suicides in the State can be downloaded here. In addition, county resources can be identified here.
• The US Department of Veterans Affairs and the US Department of Defense have been preparing clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) for healthcare providers on a number of chronic health, mental health, and military-connected health issues for some time. These CPGs are based on the best evidence that is available at the time of publication. The content is reviewed periodically and updated. In 2019, the VA/DoD Clinical Practice Guideline (CPG) for the Assessment and Management of Patients at Risk for Suicide was issued.
• Under the auspices of Columbia University, the Columbia Lighthouse Project was established “to light the way to ending suicide”. Their goal was to educate users about the Columbia-Suicide Severity Rating Scale (C-SSRS), to maximize its impact through support for its users, and to continue to build the science behind the scale. Free training is available for providers.
• Ask the Question – Downloadable Flyer

TRAINING

• Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) is an 8-hour training that teaches trainees how to identify, understand, and respond to signs of mental illnesses and substance use disorders that they see in the community. Mental Health First Aid – Veterans is a population-focused 8-hour training, which helps trainees understand some of the cultural and risk factors unique to Veterans. A one-page infographic can be downloaded here. Locations of trainings are available through the website.
• QPR (Question-Persuade-Refer) are the three steps in this suicide prevention intervention. QPR training is available at the individual level as well as for targeted professionals (e.g., first responders, medical staff, clergy, veteran care providers, elder caregivers) for a nominal fee.
• Living Works offers suicide prevention trainings that vary from an hour online to a two-day workshop for ASIST, or Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training. At their website, potential trainees can find trainings for a nominal fee.
• For those who are interested in enrolling in the CALM (Counseling on Access to Lethal Means) training, it is offered for free through the Suicide Prevention Resource Center. You can enroll in the course, and download the handouts.

Suicide touches whole communities