The 2022 Injury-Free NC Academy on Youth Suicide Prevention was held on August 17-18, 2022. This two-day training highlighted the role of schools and youth-serving organizations in preventing youth suicide. The Academy presented best practices for policies, methods, and programs for youth suicide prevention with emphasis on the inequitable burden of suicide in certain youth populations. Nationally recognized experts presented on a broad range of topics including:
- A broad overview of suicide prevention and understanding of current trends in suicide.
- Up-to-date North Carolina suicide data and resources.
- An understanding of suicide trends and unique risk and protective factors for youth, especially Black, Latinx, and 2SLGBTQ+ youth.
- An understanding of the role of school personnel in preventing youth suicide.
- Tools for identification, assessment, and response to suicide risk.
- Information regarding research-based youth suicide prevention training options.
- Current suicide prevention and postvention recommendations for schools.
- An exploration of self-care for adults who interact with youth at risk for suicide.
Participants were also given opportunities to share their own programming and experiences with each other, which allowed them to participate in self-directed learning and network building with people who work in different roles, but who are all committed to youth suicide prevention in North Carolina. This year’s Academy brought together more than 50 people from all over NC–from Buncombe County to Carteret County–representing 11 schools and 3 youth-serving organizations.
The UNC Injury Prevention Research Center and the NC Division of Public Health Injury and Violence Prevention Branch (IVPB) jointly developed Injury-Free NC (IFNC) to partner with and educate injury and violence prevention researchers and practitioners across North Carolina. IFNC uses a novel approach of building community across different areas of injury and violence prevention work and facilitating networking to share best practices, promising strategies, and innovative programming. The goals of this initiative are to advance learning, improve practice, and improve outcomes.
About Youth Suicide Prevention Efforts in NC
In 1999 the US Surgeon General declared that suicide is a public health problem and released the National Strategy for Suicide Prevention. In 2017, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention followed with “Preventing Suicide: A Technical Package of Policy, Programs and Practices.” These documents promote the strategies that have the greatest impact on suicide morbidity and mortality including suicide prevention education, policy and community change, reducing access to lethal means, and decreasing the stigma of help-seeking.
In the Fall of 2020, the IVPB received a $4.8 million dollar grant to support comprehensive suicide prevention efforts directed at the populations at greatest risk in North Carolina; this Academy is a direct result of that grant. An analysis of the data for our state indicates the populations with increased risk include veterans, men, residents of rural areas, and youth, including a focus on the LGBTQ+ youth sub-population. Effective prevention and intervention require understanding and utilizing the best methods to engage each population based on their values, beliefs, and preferences, and requires coordination with non-traditional partners such as faith communities, bars, recreation clubs, and barbershops.