Suicide Prevention Ottawa
Suicide Prevention Ottawa is working towards having a community without suicide by using evidence to promote awareness, build capacity, and respond effectively to suicide among people of all ages.
Background
Suicide Prevention Ottawa (SPO) is a group of local leaders who, since 1989, have been working to build a community without suicide. SPO combines two previously separate initiatives, The Community Suicide Prevention Network (CSPN) and the Ottawa Suicide Prevention Coalition (OSPC).
We use evidence to promote awareness, build capacity, and respond effectively to suicide among people of all ages, across the life span.
SPO was made possible by the contributions of a collective of organizations, leaders and experts in Ottawa that included families and people with lived experiences, researchers, service providers, administrators and many more, committed to action in preventing, and collectively responding to suicide deaths.
Goals and objectives
SPO is working towards having a community without suicide by using evidence to promote awareness, build capacity, and respond effectively to suicide among people of all ages.
Methods/activities
- Training in ASIST and safeTALK throughout the city: a cornerstone of our suicide prevention efforts in Ottawa.
- The know what to do series, succinct and thorough presentations and resources supporting the community to respond to and prevent suicide (for example, sessions to raise awareness of 2SLGBTQ+ issues, etc.)
- Multiple Facebook Livestream events to support parents to Know What to Do. These parent education sessions to de-mystify the process of caring for a child who has thoughts of suicide or attempts.
- Sources of Strength, a peer education program that increases individual and school resiliency and promotes help-seeking among youth.
- Training to members of the media about safe suicide reporting practices
- A Post Suicide Support Team to help communities begin to heal after a suicide.
- Development and dissemination of information and resources on supporting community in a safe way after a suicide and how to memorialize in a safe way.
- Online video series about peer support among youth. Supported the development of an online learning tool to educate youth about how to do peer support.
- Development and implementation of a yearly knowledge mobilization and awareness raising event for WSPD.
- Currently working to implement the Youth-Nominated Support Team.
- The goal of Suicide Prevention Ottawa’s Research, Awareness, Knowledge and Exchange group (RAKE) is to connect people with experiences, living and lived, to researchers-and vice versa.
Tips/learnings
- Focus on resilience, steer away from shock and trauma.
- It is important to nurture relationships with cross sectoral, diverse, organizational partners.
- Involve people with living and lived experience.
Outcome/evaluation
- In 2017 – 2018, 67 organizations were members of the CSPN and 1138 contacts attended CSPN meetings and events.
- In 2017 – 2018, schools engaged 558 students as peer leaders in Sources of Strength. Schools supported peer leaders to deliver 112 campaigns. Peer leaders made 38,434 contacts through their campaigns.
- In 2015 – 2016, 6 Ottawa Carleton – district school board schools had 2SLGBTQ+ capacity building training.