Connect (formerly Frameworks): What Makes Connect Unique
Connect Suicide Prevention Project
Suicide is a complex problem and the Connect Suicide Prevention Project employs multiple strategies to engage individuals, service providers, and the community as a whole in prevention efforts. It is clear from the reception we receive when we present at local and national conferences, as well as inquiries that we receive from our website, that communities are hungry for a program that takes a comprehensive approach to suicide prevention. Examples include being invited by the government of Northern Ireland to participate in a conference held in Belfast to help them develop their national suicide prevention strategy, and since presenting at the NAMI National Conference, we have received multiple inquires from affiliates interested in getting trained in our model. Several of the key pieces that make Connect unique include:
- By working within existing community coalitions, we achieve true collaboration and integration between key service providers.
- Actively working to promote early detection and treatment of mental illness and substance abuse disorders including improving access to health care.
- Incorporating messages to reduce stigma and increase help seeking behavior into all materials and training.
- Assisting the community coalitions with identifying and addressing community risk and protective factors.
- Having a comprehensive public health model that includes a fully developed postvention training component and recognizing that postvention activities (supports to families and communities following a suicide death) is a key part of suicide prevention.
- Young adults (18-24) have higher rates of suicide but are harder to reach – Connect works with communities on how to reach and engage this particularly vulnerable age group.
- Connect infuses the importance of understanding culture, at both the individual and community level, throughout all training and materials for the project.
- Connect incorporates key strategies identified in the National Strategy for Suicide Prevention such as lethal means restriction, stigma reduction, use of media guidelines, promotion of effective clinical and professional practices, improving access to health care, as well as the more traditional strategies such as increased public awareness and recognition of risk factors.