The Suicide Prevention Coalition began with a planning process in November 2002, to address the goal of raising awareness that suicide is a public health and a mental health problem in order to reduce stigma and increase people's ability to seek help. Staff of the MHRS Board and Help Hotline met to outline the objectives and steps necessary to create a coalition in Columbiana County which would provide broad-based support for suicide prevention.
Grant guidelines were used to determine appropriate members to recruit for the coalition including MHRS Board staff, consumers and family members, county health department, mental health providers, school personnel, survivors of a suicide attempt, and family members of persons who had completed suicide.
The Suicide Prevention Coalition Steering Committee first met in December 2002.
Goals of the Coalition are to:
Establish a Suicide Prevention Coalition in Columbiana County
Implement a community-wide awareness, information, and education program to reduce stigma and normalize help-seeking behaviors.
Increase awareness; normalize help-seeking behaviors, and reduce the factors that increase the risk of suicide by middle and high school aged youth.
Increase awareness; normalize help-seeking behaviors, and reduce the factors that increase the risk of suicide by adult males.
Increase awareness; normalize help-seeking behaviors, and reduce the factors that increase the risk of suicide by senior adults.
Three major priority groups were identified:
Middle and High School Students: Significantly more females than males consider suicide, but completed suicide is more common in adolescent males than females. Increased risk factors include depression, substance and alcohol abuse, anxiety or impulsivity, sexual identify issues, and a history of sexual abuse.
Middle Age Males: Men between the ages of 25 to 44 years are at particular risk of suicide, with white males aged 25-34 having the highest rate of suicide in this group.
The Elderly: The suicide risk for Ohioans above the age of 80 is three to four times higher than for the average Ohioan. Increased risk factors include social isolation, significant losses, illness, disability, chronic pain, depression, and hidden alcoholism.
Four workgroups were identified and included:
Community Relations
Seniors
Middle-Aged Males
Youth
The Coalition continues to meet on a regular basis to develop strategies to reduce and prevent suicide.