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Empowering Communities: Innovative Strategies for Suicide Prevention
In this enlightening discussion, Jason Lux, the Wyoming Injury and Violence Prevention Program manager, elucidates the multifaceted state-wide efforts for suicide prevention and intervention.
Jason emphasizes the need for heightened awareness and actionable strategies to combat this crisis. He discusses the significance of evidence-based practices in suicide prevention, distinguishing between general awareness of suicide and the implementation of structured intervention strategies.
Takeaways:
- The importance of understanding both intentional and unintentional injuries in suicide prevention has been emphasized during our discussions.
- Our guest, Jason Lux, highlighted how community efforts in Wyoming are diverse and impactful in addressing mental health crises.
- The need to bridge the gap between general awareness of suicide and effective intervention strategies has been identified as a crucial area for progress.
- The role of faith-based communities in suicide prevention represents a novel approach that fosters empathy and compassion towards those struggling with mental health issues.
For more information on mental health support, contact the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.
For more information on Prosper, go to the website
Transcript
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Speaker B:My name is Kent Corso and I'm your host for this episode of One Minute Can Save a Life.
Speaker B:While I am a licensed clinical psychologist, none of these guests are my patients, nor does anything I say constitute medical advice.
Speaker B:The views conveyed during our conversations do not reflect the views, positions or policies of any private or public organization.
Speaker B:This is simply a series of conversations with people who have some connection to hardship, suicide, mental health or loss.
Speaker B:There's so much we can learn from one another.
Speaker B:So let's get started.
Speaker C:Today our guest is Jason Lux, the Wyoming Injury and Violence Prevention Program manager.
Speaker C:Jason, please introduce yourself.
Speaker A:Hello, Kent.
Speaker A:Yeah, as you said, my name is Jason.
Speaker A:I am the injury and violence Prevention program manager for the Wyoming Department of Health.
Speaker A:Happy to be here today.
Speaker C:We're really glad to have you.
Speaker C:If I were very quick witted, I'd come up with a great acronym that we could say your title and just a quick, it looks like it would be like the wivpum, but WIVPUM doesn't really sound very clear.
Speaker C:So instead of coming up with acronyms, let me ask you this, Jason.
Speaker C:Tell us a little bit about your role within the Wyoming government.
Speaker A:So essentially I manage a program in the Wyoming State Department of Health in the Public Health Division that focuses on injury and violence prevention.
Speaker A:So there's a few sides to that.
Speaker A:So on the injury side, we have intentional and unintentional injury.
Speaker A:Intentional injury is largely is suicide is the main focus here.
Speaker A:We also look at violence as far as sexual violence, domestic violence.
Speaker A:And then on the other side of things we have unintentional injury.
Speaker A:So that's things like car accidents and older adult falls, unintentional poisoning like CO2 poisoning or, you know, anything that goes to poison center, those kind of calls.
Speaker A:So I manage programs that look at preventing all those different realms of injury and violence.
Speaker C:Excellent.
Speaker C:And how long have you been in this role, Jason?
Speaker A:I'm pretty new here, so I started last October was when I started.
Speaker A:So I haven't quite hit a year yet.
Speaker C:What have you learned since you've been on board, Jason?
Speaker C:And also what kind of surprises have you encountered?
Speaker C:So things you didn't expect to see that you are seeing or vice versa.
Speaker A:I think I've learned a ton over the last year or two, you know, so just to kind of add some context with my job.
Speaker A:So before October when I got this position, I did work at the county level doing suicide prevention in Sweetwater county for about 18 months there.
Speaker A:And before that I had, I worked as a teacher.
Speaker A:So I didn't really have.
Speaker A:Have a ton of suicide prevention knowledge or mental health knowledge, so gained a ton of content knowledge.
Speaker A:I think once I stepped to the state level, it was just really kind of understanding the immensity of things.
Speaker A:And then really, you know, I think the biggest thing I've seen with my role is just the fact that so many people really do care about this issue.
Speaker A:Before I started delving into it, I. I didn't realize how immense it was, how tight it was.
Speaker A:You know, of course, like growing up in Wyoming, I'd been affected by suicide.
Speaker A:I'd seen people affected by it.
Speaker A:But kind of coming to this level, I realized almost everyone in the state has been.
Speaker A:And a lot of people in the state really care about trying to help this problem and help prevent suicide.
Speaker A:I kind of see my role here is just trying to coordinate those efforts and try and organize and help everyone along in.
Speaker A:It is just surprising how many different pockets of people are working on this in different ways.
Speaker A:And it's really cool and enjoyable to try and bring those different people and groups together.
Speaker C:It sounds really inspiring to have so many different pockets of people from so many different areas in Wyoming trying to be part of the solution.
Speaker C:I wonder if you could share with our listeners just some examples of the diversity that you're seeing in terms of efforts and locations and types of programs or other ways that people are getting involved.
Speaker A:So just kind of, you know, there's the big general kind of state ones as far as the community prevention grant goes to every single county.
Speaker A:And, and that's what our.
Speaker A:Our unit funds to prevent suicide and substance use.
Speaker A:Then the governor's office is doing a lot of great things.
Speaker A:They've worked with you with Prosper Initiative.
Speaker A:You know, a lot of the Prosper Initiative stuff has worked with the county cps, which that's community prevention specialist.
Speaker A:And then, you know, we've got a lot of great nonprofits doing some things.
Speaker A:So in the rodeo space, there's a lot of things going on.
Speaker A:There's the J Foundation.
Speaker A:They do boot checks, hand out boots to different kids in high school and kind of have.
Speaker A:Have that talk and some awareness about checking in on your friends.
Speaker A:They have that yellow feather campaign at CFD talking about the pickup man.
Speaker A:I think there's a ton of great awareness initiatives there, especially in that space where there's a ton of stigma around mental health.
Speaker A:The faith community I've seen has been doing quite a bit of stuff.
Speaker A:So Soul shop is getting very popular.
Speaker A:They have soul Shop networks kind of around, and I think you Know, in talking to a lot of faith leaders, they get more and more mental health questions and problems that they deal with in their congregation.
Speaker A:And so kind of having an avenue and some training for that.
Speaker A:I think a lot of them are more and more open to working with, with mental health and suicide prevention, which is amazing.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:And there's, there's probably a lot more I'm forgetting.
Speaker A:I know in Jackson, I'm.
Speaker A:I'm forgetting the name of it, but there's an organization that works specifically on suicide prevention around guides.
Speaker A:So like outdoor and fly fishing guides, rafting guides.
Speaker A:I mean, there's definitely some, some grace going along.
Speaker C:And that's just the last part about Jackson.
Speaker C:That's because Yellowstone tends to be what's called a destination suicide spot, which is where people go to, to specifically to kill themselves.
Speaker C:And I think there is a bit of a pattern we've seen in the last decade or so where people will go to national parks.
Speaker C:Actually, it's probably more like two decades they'll go to national parks and sort of be in nature when they decide to end their lives.
Speaker C:So that, that makes sense that there's sort of an outdoors company that is training or at least developed a program and they're pushing it out.
Speaker C:One thing I want to go back to, you mentioned Soul Shop and the faith based community.
Speaker C:I think that's such a novel way for us to approach the problem of suicide.
Speaker C:We know that within at least the Judeo Christian religions that someone would say suicide's a sin.
Speaker C:And I think our gut instinct when we're thinking about the words faith and suicide is to think of that word sin.
Speaker C:And I haven't really seen these organized efforts focusing on that at all.
Speaker C:In fact, they're much more focused on looking at suicide in a faith based lens as someone who's struggling with something in the same way they might struggle with a physical ailment like a cancer or something.
Speaker C:And really trying to get congregations and parishes to have empathy and compassion for these people.
Speaker C:So I really love that you mentioned the faith based one.
Speaker C:I think it's a really important avenue when we're thinking about suicide prevention and all the work the nonprofit space is doing.
Speaker C:The J Foundation, the Pickup man, is a cool one.
Speaker C:What I love about that is that within the rodeo space, if you fall off, there is someone there to immediately grab you and get you out of harm's way.
Speaker C:And so I love that that metaphor maps onto the culture and anyone who's ever been to a rodeo who is into that lifestyle and that even Even if you're just a spectator, you know that there's a pickup man.
Speaker C:And so I think that's a great way to bridge a very common understanding within the culture to help people understand why it might be important to help someone who's struggling with suicide.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:And I think just exactly as you said, just kind of meeting, meeting the culture.
Speaker A:And I think that's one of the biggest challenges, but also the most rewarding thing we do here in Wyoming because it is, it is very different.
Speaker A:We pride ourselves on being very different.
Speaker A:And so I think, yeah, being able to tack onto things like that rodeo, the pickup man, the faith based stuff isn't unique to Wyoming necessarily, but I do think it's really big here.
Speaker A:You know, we.
Speaker A:There are a lot of people I think about, my own grandparents included, probably would way rather talk to a preacher than maybe a mental health clinician.
Speaker A:That's where they go when their family has problems.
Speaker C:And if you think about it, they've been talking to a preacher probably their whole lives in and out of any number of curveballs that that life throws them.
Speaker C:So it, it's so natural for them to turn to that person as a resource.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker C:It's not like they're meeting the person for the first time and there's a stigma associated with it, which unfortunately is the case with mental health.
Speaker A:Right, right.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:And so I think, you know, that's how we have to approach a lot of things here.
Speaker A:Is kind of trying to be creative about the different avenues we can work with.
Speaker A:And I think that can be sometimes a frustration as well.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:At the state level.
Speaker A:And something that I just wanted people to understand that I work with is like, just because I can't necessarily fund something at the state level, you know, where we have very strict requirements about meeting a certain evidence base or, you know, a very.
Speaker A:There's strings attached to federal funding and things like that.
Speaker A:I still love to know what's going on and see what's happening in these different avenues of suicide prevention.
Speaker A:But yeah, that is sometimes the kind of the hurdles of walking through is like what you can approve on the state level or directly fund versus just support and provide resources.
Speaker C:It sounds like what you're saying, Jason, is that there is a lot of creativity out there.
Speaker C:There's a lot of motivation out there.
Speaker C:There's a lot of willingness for people to dial conversation and try to help.
Speaker C:And while you are one source of either funding, approval or other types of authorization, you are held to all sorts of other criteria.
Speaker C:So in a federal sense, if there's federal funding.
Speaker C:You've got to make sure that it meets a specific number of criteria which may or may not match some of the ideas or the projects that are being shared with you from the field.
Speaker A:And you know, and that's not to say that I'm against the innovation happening all the time or, or that I look down on it.
Speaker A:It's just kind of the things that, that I'm held to, you know, and I want people to know too that if they are innovative and maybe they can't get that government level funding, there are beginning to be some resources and non profits out there where people are willing to fund those maybe more innovative things and stuff like that.
Speaker A:So I'm definitely willing to kind of provide those connections or introduce people if I can't directly help.
Speaker C:That's great.
Speaker C:Thank you.
Speaker C:Maybe what we'll do is in the program notes, we'll include a list of organizations that you can share with us that are willing to fund any number of types of projects.
Speaker C:And maybe if you would share your email address, our listeners can send you an email if they have further questions or want to share with you a project they know about.
Speaker C:Because a moment ago you said I love hearing what's going on even if I can't fund it.
Speaker A:My Email address is J-A-S O N.L U X@Wyo.gov Definitely feel free to reach out with any sort of interest in this space.
Speaker A:I will say too, just to kind of forewarn people that I'm not a crisis counselor.
Speaker A:I am not on my email 24 7.
Speaker A:So if you do have an emergency, please call 988 and talk to the crisis wifi.
Speaker A:We do get those sometimes.
Speaker C:Thank you for that.
Speaker C:Jason.
Speaker C:Let's pivot for a moment and talk about the state of suicide in Wyoming.
Speaker C:You probably have access to tons of data, innumerable reports, and so many resources.
Speaker C:How are we doing in the state?
Speaker A:Wyoming is compared to the nation has always done much worse.
Speaker A:So as far as rates go, we're consistently in the top three.
Speaker A:I am terrible.
Speaker A:I'm not like the best at remembering numbers.
Speaker A:I don't have all the numbers directly in my head, so I can't spit out the exact rates or any.
Speaker A:But we're very consistently in the top three states in the nation for rates.
Speaker A:It's been a long time struggle with Wyoming.
Speaker C:Okay.
Speaker C:And isn't it true that in the last five years there's been at least one year where the rate decreased in Wyoming and we dropped to number three?
Speaker A:That is true.
Speaker A:We were at one and then we dropped down to number three.
Speaker A:So that was sign of hope for sure.
Speaker C:Absolutely.
Speaker C:And so in your opinion, what, what has been going well, what might be contributing to the progress we've recently seen or future progress?
Speaker A:I think general awareness has increased a lot.
Speaker A:You know, I think I see people, you know, in my hometown and things like that talking about suicide that I never would have imagined would have been talking openly about suicide and mental health in the past.
Speaker A:So I think there is beginning to be a lot more awareness of what the issue is and, and kind of at least some glimmering among the general public of what to do.
Speaker A:So I think that just that baseline, knowing that it's a problem here and kind of knowing to watch out for it has been a huge boost to kind of helping us prevent things.
Speaker A:I think also that the state has done a great job over you know, the last several years.
Speaker A:The public health division, the cps, the governor's office have done a great job working on this.
Speaker A:They have provided a lot of evidence based structures for what you do when you recognize that suicide is an issue.
Speaker A:I think that's something we still have a ways to go on because, because that is not as widespread as the general awareness.
Speaker A:I think, you know, I think that there's still a pretty large gap there as far as, you know, I know suicide's an issue.
Speaker A:I can kind of see maybe some signs that are warning signs of this, but what do I do about this?
Speaker A:And so that's something that I think everyone is pushing a lot more now over the last couple years has, has really gained some ground.
Speaker A:We've got a ton of trainers in the governor's office.
Speaker A:Brow prosper in, you know, I think that that is starting to spread and, and we're doing a lot with that.
Speaker A:But that's kind of the stage I see as far as changing the general public kind of their view of things.
Speaker A:And then along with that comes a whole lot of systemic issues that are tied to that, that are sometimes obstacles or difficulties to traverse as far as like, you know, a lot of the standard gatekeeper trains would say, you know, get them to a crisis center, get them to whatever, a mental health center as quickly as possible.
Speaker A:And in Wyoming that's sometimes easier said than done.
Speaker A:Some communities may not have that availability, some communities may not have healthcare availability or you know, even an ambulance, maybe that can come quickly.
Speaker A:And so that is something at the state level that I've opened my eyes to much more.
Speaker A:Some of it within my realm Some of it way out of my realm of anything I can do with things.
Speaker A:But that is, you know, kind of the other struggle along with this piece is once everyone knows what they're supposed to do, do we have those resources or do we need to adapt our methods for when there's a lack of those resources there?
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker C:So in some ways I'll start with the end and then sort of trace back.
Speaker C:One size doesn't fit all.
Speaker C:Some communities have those resources, other communities don't.
Speaker C:And from a state perspective, we need to be able to have something to do in all of those communities for someone who's in distress or who's in crisis.
Speaker C:Going back a little further, you also said you, you know, there's evidence based treatments and we could stand to have those spread even more.
Speaker C:I do want to point out that aside from prosper, there are many other trainings that are offered across Wyoming.
Speaker C:And if our listeners want to go to the Wyoming state website, Department of Health, you can see a link to all sorts of trainings that are for everything from gatekeeper training to suicide intervention.
Speaker C:So your comment that we're doing more and more is well put, Jason, because the information's there.
Speaker C:You also tried to contrast the difference between awareness and evidence based intervention.
Speaker C:And I'm not sure that our audience may appreciate the difference.
Speaker C:If you're a healthcare provider, mental health provider, certainly you know the difference.
Speaker C:But if you're not, could you take a moment and just explain the difference between public awareness and let's say, evidence based practice?
Speaker A:So I think a lot of the general public, or you know, maybe some non profits who are just interested in this space, general awareness is essentially just recognizing how you can spot that someone's at risk for suicide or that suicide's a problem in general.
Speaker A:So it's basic things like check in on your friends, you know, if somebody is mentions they are thinking about killing themselves, that's serious, take that seriously.
Speaker A:Check in on people, you know, any friend or whatever may be struggling.
Speaker A:And so that's kind of just a general awareness that suicide is an issue.
Speaker A:Watch out for it, kind of be aware, try and get people help with what you can, evidence based strategies.
Speaker A:So like in my realm, what I really work a lot with is the gatekeeper trainings which trains any general individual on how to spot things.
Speaker A:So we delve a little bit deeper into how do you know if someone is struggling?
Speaker A:So what are those warnings, warning signs?
Speaker A:Some are really obvious, you know, if someone says they're going to kill themselves or things like that.
Speaker A:Some May be a little less so, like giving away prized possessions or sometimes even extreme mood changes.
Speaker A:On the happy side.
Speaker A:Everyone notices when someone gets really sad and is concerned.
Speaker A:Sometimes intense personality changes to extreme happiness can also be a cause of concern that less people notice.
Speaker A:So we, we dive a little more deeply into things like that and then it's well, what do you do after that?
Speaker A:And I think kind of the next big step that people learn that's really important is just asking the question that's something that maybe isn't fully out in the general awareness quite yet is that it is totally okay to ask someone directly about if they're thinking about suicide.
Speaker A:And then after that there's a whole range of different evidence based things to go into.
Speaker A:You know, QPR talks about persuading them to stay alive, getting to help.
Speaker A:You can look at assist, it kind of follows along that same model.
Speaker A:But you can even develop a safety plan with people.
Speaker A:Kind of walk through how you keep them safe.
Speaker A:For now.
Speaker A:Removing or securing the most lethal means that that person would consider using things like that.
Speaker A:And so I would just say, yeah, the distinction between general awareness is just kind of being aware that it's a problem, watching out for it.
Speaker A:Then there's the evidence based strategies that people.
Speaker A:What do you do when you see the problem?
Speaker C:That's super helpful.
Speaker C:Thanks for the specific examples.
Speaker C:Why do evidence based strategies matter?
Speaker A:And I guess I should clarify too.
Speaker A:First off, too, evidence based strategies are called evidence based because they have been tested rigorously in randomized controlled trials or several different trials reviewed in pure journals and shown to be effective among specific populations.
Speaker A:So when I say evidence based, that is the evidence that it's resting on is people have tried these programs, they've conducted evaluations, they've seen that it has improved some sort of metric objectively whether that's getting people to help, increasing the confidence of those who are trained.
Speaker A:And so the reason that's important, especially at the state level, is we are working with the public dollar.
Speaker A:And so we have to show that what we spend money on is something that's tried and true.
Speaker A:It's worked in other situations.
Speaker A:And so it's verifiable and even past just our duty to the public as far as money goes, it's a moral obligation.
Speaker A:If we're going to be training and we're bringing in people who are spending their time and dedication to this, we want to give them the best quality stuff they have.
Speaker A:And the way we judge that quality and things like that is just by seeing that evidence that it has words, so we can trust that kind of lean on that.
Speaker C:Excellent.
Speaker C:So there's an ethical and moral responsibility.
Speaker C:There's also this idea that you want to be good stewards of tax dollars.
Speaker C:And at the end of the day, we want this to change.
Speaker C:And we are therefore going to rely on strategies that have stood up to scientific testing and demonstrated within the scientific research that it works.
Speaker C:We don't want to give people false hope and roll out some sort of a technique or a program or a training that has not been shown to be effective, because then not only are we wasting government dollars, but we're really not giving the public the strongest tools or the best tools that they can use to tackle this problem.
Speaker A:Right, Correct.
Speaker A:And I mean, I think there's a lot of times really well meaning people will get really passionate about stuff and want to do something, but they may not be aware of the evidence.
Speaker A:And sometimes certain strategies can actually cause harm.
Speaker A:And so, you know, it's really important if people want to get into this space that they consult and that's where the state can kind of help people even if they can't provide funding.
Speaker A:You know, we're always open to talking with people.
Speaker A:What are your plans?
Speaker A:What are you thinking?
Speaker A:And we can kind of give whether that fits with the evidence base or at the very least, we can say whether or not that is something that's been shown to cause harm.
Speaker C:That's perfect.
Speaker C:So I'm going to be a little more direct than Jason has been.
Speaker C:If you are a listener and you have a good idea or your family or friends, you know, people, maybe it's a budding nonprofit.
Speaker C:If you want to be part of the solution, please feel free to shoot Jason an email.
Speaker C:Now, I don't think that's going to result in 10,000.
Speaker C:10,000 new emails today.
Speaker C:Jason.
Speaker C:Jason, don't worry.
Speaker C:But his email address is jason j-a s o n.lux l u x@w y o.gov and then, Jason, before we wrap up, another question I had.
Speaker C:We've talked a lot about all the progress we've made.
Speaker C:Can you talk for a moment about something that we either have learned or need to learn or an area where we can continue to do better?
Speaker A:You know, I think there's three areas right now that my program's working on that I kind of, I think are big spots we could work on more and that I'm really excited about.
Speaker A:So I'll try and discuss those three sections.
Speaker A:One is, I have sponsored so two T4 Ts.
Speaker A:That's train the trainer courses in calm, which is counseling on access to lethal means.
Speaker A:So, you know, we talk about data.
Speaker A:I'm not much of a numbers guy, but one number that I see really consistently to the point I have memorized it, is that around 70% of suicides in Wyoming are by firearm.
Speaker A:It is.
Speaker A:There's a lot of things wrapped up with that.
Speaker A:There's a lot of culture around that, you know, and we don't advocate any sort of policy around that.
Speaker A:But calm training, counseling on access to lethal means it teaches people that two different courses, one is for clinicians and one is for the average everyday Joe to talk with people if they are at risk for suicide, about securing their firearms.
Speaker A:So whether that's locking them up, storing them with a friend, storing them off site somewhere else, just how to do that, because that is, you know, when we talk about Wyoming suicides, out of all the lethal means, firearms is one of the most lethal ones.
Speaker A:If you attempt with pills or things like that, there is a lot higher chance you survive with a firearm.
Speaker A:It's a pretty instantaneous thing.
Speaker A:And so that's something that we try and focus on is how do we meet gun owners, where they're at and talk about when they're in a mental health crisis, how do they secure those firearms?
Speaker A:And that was.
Speaker A:My predecessor had worked on that.
Speaker A:That's something we're working on.
Speaker A:I know something you talk about and the Governor's challenge talks about.
Speaker C:I was just going to say it's so important because what our listeners may or may not be aware of is that over 70% of suicides that happen with a firearm happen within an hour.
Speaker C:In other words, the time between the person thinking of ending their lives and pulling the trigger on themselves.
Speaker C:About 24% do it within five minutes and about 70% make that decision in one hour.
Speaker C:And so the idea is not that we're going to take your guns, it's teaching responsible gun owners to be self reflective so that if they recognize that they're in a tough spot, they make access to their firearm a lot harder.
Speaker C:In other words, they delay access or have someone else be a custodian, just temporarily.
Speaker C:And so even though there's this strong love for firearms within the Mountain west, we can also have a strong love for life and for safety.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker C:So I really am grateful that you outlined the calm program.
Speaker C:It sounds like you're going to highlight one or two other things.
Speaker A:And so the first one is firearms, something we're working on.
Speaker A:The second one, so we have been working on Expanding a suicide fatality review sort of program.
Speaker A:So essentially what a suicidality review is, it operates at the county level in Wyoming.
Speaker A:And so the coroner responds to every single suicide that will happen or every suspected suicide.
Speaker A:But then, you know, a lot of times there was this sense that within these communities, you know, the coroners or maybe the police, they're responding to these suicide scenes.
Speaker A:They have a lot of information on local level patterns around suicides and things, but they can't really share that with others.
Speaker A:And then it goes up to the state level and kind of it's cleaned through, the data goes down and then they get just the bad numbers and you know, things like the large majority of suicides are male, so on and so forth.
Speaker A:Suicide fatality review, it is essentially this agreement between the coroners and the county and then a lot of partner agencies.
Speaker A:So things like hospitals, law enforcement agencies, school districts.
Speaker A:And what happens is they will get the consent of, you know, the personal representative, so the decedent.
Speaker A:And then they will gather and discuss those cases and people.
Speaker A:So, you know, the hospital will discuss if they had interactions with that individual before they died.
Speaker A:The school district will discuss they had interactions with that person.
Speaker A:And then they identify risk and protective factors within their community that they can address more readily.
Speaker A:So it's a hyper local look at the data to see what's going on.
Speaker A:So just as an example, if a certain trailer park has had multiple suicides, you can start looking at targeting efforts toward that area.
Speaker A:Or if it's a certain employer, you can go and speak to that employer about the processes and provide them with resources.
Speaker A:So with this fatality review, it had started in Laramie county, they worked themselves on it.
Speaker A:It's been really successful.
Speaker A:I think it's been three or four years there.
Speaker A:And then just this year, with the help of the governor's challenge team, I've been creating systems to help five other counties stand this up in their counties.
Speaker A: first fatality review before: Speaker A:So that's something I'm really excited about because, you know, in Laramie county, it has provided a lot of knowledge about what's happening locally.
Speaker A:They don't share anything personal outside of that circle, so they maintain confidentiality.
Speaker A:But then the people who have the power to make some changes in the community, prevent suicide are able to do it much more efficiently and effectively.
Speaker A:So that's something I'm really excited about.
Speaker A:Hope that we can kind of spread throughout the state over time.
Speaker C:What's great about it is.
Speaker C:It's an opportunity for a community to learn about all of the different details and variables that contributed to a person's death by suicide.
Speaker C:At the same time, it's not looking to point a finger.
Speaker C:So I think sometimes people hear about suicide fatality review boards and they think, well, this is just a witch hunt or this is just a way that they can sort of hold someone liable or accountable.
Speaker C:And that's not at all what it's about.
Speaker C:So I just want to dispel that myth in case some of our listeners have heard, that it is very much a process that is highly structured, methodical, and done in a process improvement and sort of discovery mindset so that we can, as a community, learn.
Speaker C:And to your point, it's been going quite well in Laramie, and I'm glad to hear it's rolling out across five other counties.
Speaker C:I hope it goes well.
Speaker C:Maybe we'll get you back on the program for an update in a few months.
Speaker A:All right.
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah, that sounds good.
Speaker A:And thank you for pointing that out.
Speaker A:Yes, it is not at all like any sort of punitive review or anything of that nature is simply we look at kind of, where are there gaps in the system and how can we help people fill those gaps?
Speaker A:The last initiative I've really looked at is the healthcare field.
Speaker A:And this is one that there is a ton of moving pieces going on, a lot of different aspects and a lot of struggles that are kind of Wyoming or rural specific.
Speaker A:But before I stepped into this position, they had a zero suicide group, which, for those who don't know, zero suicide is just a combination of all the best practices to prevent suicide in healthcare and behavioral healthcare settings.
Speaker A:Unfortunately, there was a bit of a stall.
Speaker A:So we found that only like the larger, more resourced hospitals were really frequently attending and implementing everything in the zero suicide framework.
Speaker A:And so the other hospitals found it.
Speaker A:It was a little bit difficult, it was hard to traverse, and it was kind of overwhelming to add all that on on top of a rural hospital that's already overworked and understaffed.
Speaker A:And so when I got in, I decided to step this back a bit.
Speaker A:We renamed it to Healthcare Suicide Prevention Work Group because it takes away a bit of that intimidation factor of zero suicide, which some people found that name a bit overwhelming or difficult to traverse.
Speaker A:We still rely heavily on that network, but this work group's goal is looking at those other hospitals that weren't able to implement zero suicide, fully dropped back, and how do we help them make incremental changes if it's not adopting the entire zero framework right at the beginning.
Speaker A:How do we improve?
Speaker A:Let's look at your screening process.
Speaker A:How do we get that improved and step that up?
Speaker A:And so I started that work group two or three months ago, and we worked together to develop a pilot grant program because we did find that, I mean, the big barrier in some of this, that just having the money to pay people to spend time on this.
Speaker A:And so we developed a little pilot program, up to $100,000 in funds.
Speaker A:We're currently scoring applications on that right now.
Speaker A:So I can't say too much about them other than that.
Speaker A:We did get several applications.
Speaker A:We're really excited and there's a lot of great ideas in there about people trying to just improve policy training and community engagement around suicide prevention.
Speaker C:Outstanding.
Speaker C:It's always great to hear that where we're going is a place full of hope and light and opportunity to save lives.
Speaker C:We are out of time.
Speaker C:Jason, thank you so much for your contributions.
Speaker C:Really appreciate all you're doing at the state level to pull together both state resources and to connect into localities across the state.
Speaker C:The work you do is really meaningful, really important, and we are blessed to have someone like you at the helm.
Speaker C:So thank you.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Thank you for the opportunity to share.
Speaker A:Thank you for listening to this episode.
Speaker B:Of One Minute Can Save a Life.
Speaker A:Take care of yourself.
Speaker A:Take care of your neighbor.
Speaker A:Be bold.
Speaker B:Ask the hard questions.
Speaker B:Because if you don't, who will?
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Speaker C:Save a Life was provided by TKB Podcast Studio.
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