GREETINGS
NIMH Director Thomas Insel, MD
Despite immense efforts to understand how to identify those at risk and prevent suicide, the answers have remained largely elusive and suicide continues to be an intractable problem. Suicide claims the lives of over 38,000 people in America every year, and in 2010, there were more than 650,000 hospital visits related to suicide attempts. We need a response that matches the magnitude of the problem – and one that is informed by the best science. That’s why three years ago, the National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention established the Research Prioritization Task Force (RPTF) in an effort to identify what we know works, and what research needs to be prioritized, if we are to make a dent in this country’s suicide rate. The RPTF, co-chaired by the Jed Foundation’s Phillip Satow and myself, called on more than 60 national and international research experts and more than 700 individual stakeholders to gather input that would shape the research agenda. Outreach Partners and National Partners of the Outreach Partnership Program provided valuable insights, and we thank you for your contributions. The RPTF has just released, A Prioritized Research Agenda for Suicide Prevention: An Action Plan to Save Lives with the expressed goal of reducing suicides in this country by 20 percent in five years and 40 percent in the next 10. The hope is that the Plan draws attention to measures already known to be effective, as well as to new research needed in less-studied areas, and encourages tests of whether commonly used anti-suicide programs are having the intended effects. Efforts like the New Mexico Outreach Partner’s dissemination of science-based information from NIMH to Native American populations impacted by suicide – described in this issue – are critical to making communities aware of how best to target their response. It is our hope that these efforts will be strengthened by the Research Agenda. By working together to inform communities about how to reliably identify those at risk, how to reach them, and how to deter them from acting on suicidal thoughts, we can save lives.
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PARTNER SPOTLIGHT
Outreach Partners disseminate NIMH materials and research findings throughout their state.
NAMI Connecticut incorporated NIMH statistics and information into a presentation about children and adolescents with a co-occurrence of mental illness and autism.
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Mental Health America of Illinois in partnership with Illinois Safe School Alliance, participated in a summer camp serving LGBTQ youth. They presented NIMH materials, including the NIMH depression video, in educational activities about mental illness, suicide prevention, and depression.
The Association of Community Mental Health Centers of Kansas, Inc. distributed NIMH materials at a meeting to assist Veterans and families with community and family reintegration.
NAMI Minnesota affiliates organized 19 community conversations across the state to support the National Dialogue on Mental Health, and distributed fact sheets with NIMH statistics and NIMH brochures on attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), depression, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia.
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NAMI Wyoming distributed NIMH materials at a training session for nursing students at Casper College. NIMH publications on schizophrenia augmented an activity for the students that simulated the experience of "hearing voices."
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After the Program's Annual Meeting, Partners are bringing the findings to their own communities.
United Self Help, the Hawaii Outreach Partner, incorporates data presented during Annual Meeting presentations into mental health education talks with high school students.
Outreach Partners conduct projects addressing mental disorders among children and adolescents, or mental health disparities.
Honoring Native Life
Like other western states, New Mexico grapples with one of the highest suicide rates in the country. Native American communities are particularly hard hit. American Indian and Alaska Native youth have the highest rate of suicide for males and females ages 10 to 24 of any racial group. The University of New Mexico Center for Rural and Community Behavioral Health runs “Honoring Native Life” (HNL), a state-funded clearinghouse for tribal agencies and communities to access culturally appropriate information, technical assistance, training, and support for suicide prevention, intervention, and/or postvention efforts.
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HNL connects Native New Mexicans to a network of resources, including providers, community members, researchers, youth, educators, and tribal leaders. HNL conducts “conversations” with youth, parents, and teachers, and engages schools, primary care clinics, and community centers. HNL recently created a youth council to engage and obtain input from Native American youth in the design and implementation of culturally appropriate suicide interventions. New Mexico Outreach Partner, Dr. Caroline Bonham noted that, "The NIMH publications and science updates are particularly helpful when we go into the community to create awareness of mental health issues."
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Outreach Partners are getting out the word about opportunities for the public to participate in research.
The Mental Health Association of Maryland promoted an NIH-funded study about stress and parenting conducted by the University of Maryland ADHD Center by distributing study fliers at a Maryland Coalition of Families conference and posting the study announcement to its website.
Mental Health America of Louisiana promoted NIMH clinical trial opportunities at community forums statewide designed to facilitate dialogue between consumers, families, and mental health providers about mental health services issues in Louisiana.
NAMI New York State invited the NIMH Intramural Schizophrenia Research Department to its recent educational conference to lead a workshop about participation in NIMH research trials.
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Mental Health America of Los Angeles in partnership with the Southern California Clinical and Translational Science Institute held workshops on mental health topics at an annual educational conference for promotoras (i.e., Hispanic/Latino lay community health workers). Presenters discussed the importance of research involvement and distributed copies of the Spanish language NIMH publication, A Participant's Guide to Mental Health Clinical Research.
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Partners team up with researchers in their states to promote clinical trials, and disseminate and apply research. For example:
The Mental Health America of Montana teamed up with the University of Montana-Helena's Dr. Nathan Munn and Montana’s Peer Network to train peer recovery support coaches for people recovering from mental and substance use disorders. The team is collecting data to assess the effectiveness of the training.
Partners provide opportunities for NIMH scientists and grantees to present their findings at local meetings and conferences.
NIMH grantee, Dr. Barbara Stanley of the New York State Psychiatric Institute, presented at the Texas Suicide Prevention Symposium organized by Mental Health America of Texas. Dr. Stanley reviewed safety planning and other brief interventions to mitigate risk with suicidal individuals.
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