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Ottawa will become the first municipality in Canada to offer suicide prevention training to every employee, something public health officials would like to see become as common as CPR training.
The three-hour training program, called safeTALK, was created by researchers in Calgary. The City of Ottawa will make it available to all of its 17,000 employees, a workforce that includes firefighters, among a range of other staff, but not police.
The program rolls out Thursday — which is World Suicide Prevention Day — with a session for city councillors, political staffers, senior managers and board of health managers. At the end of the training session, each participant receives a sticker that says: “Suicide: You can talk to me.”
The program reflects a growing understanding that training can help people get beyond the stigma surrounding suicide to talk about it and, potentially, help to prevent it in people at risk.
Participants learn about warning signs to look for in co-workers, family members, acquaintances or friends, and how to “ask that difficult question,” about suicide, said Benjamin Leikin, supervisor of the mental health team at Ottawa Public Health.
He said the program helps people to find ways to raise the subject of suicide and ask whether that person is thinking about suicide, based on behaviour, statements or actions. And, crucially, it teaches participants how to link that person with help — through a walk-in mental health clinic, a crisis line, an emergency department, even by calling 911.
“It is very much like first aid training,” said Leikin. “When you are walking down a bike path, I would hope if you saw someone fall, if you had training, you would do a quick assessment, call 911 and keep them safe until people with more training came.”
When it comes to talking about suicide, he said, “we have to move past the uncomfortable conversations to help the individual.”
Public health officials have already offered the program to hundreds of community members and city staff over the past few years. Each of the training sessions filled up quickly, Leikin said — a sign “that this is something that is really important.”
Suicide awareness has been on the front-burner in Ottawa in recent years, especially after the high profile suicide deaths of 15-year-old Jamie Hubley and 14-year-old Daron Richardson.
Schools have focused on the issue, with programs in Grades 7 and 8 to help students develop coping strategies and resiliency. Parents are being encouraged to talk with their children about their mental health.
In Ottawa, the Youth Services Bureau offers a 24 hour crisis response (613-260-2360 or 1-877-377-7775 or email crisis@ysb.ca), and a mental health walk-in clinic.
Suicide is the second leading cause of death among youth and young adults between the ages of 15 and 29 in Ottawa. But the highest rates of suicide are among middle-aged men, with almost two-thirds of about 66 suicides in Ottawa each year within that group.
Training a workforce, can help people reach out to those they work with or interact with at home and in the community. The size of the city workforce means the program could potentially touch many people across the city. Of those who have already done the training, 90 per cent said they felt prepared to conduct a suicide prevention intervention.
“This training has absolutely saved lives throughout the world and here locally,” said Leikin.
In addition to the Youth Services Bureau line, crisis and counselling help is available through the 24-hour Kids Help Phone (1 800 668-6868) and the Distress Centre of Ottawa (613 238-3311). A list of mental health walk in clinics is available at walkincounselling.com. For more information: www.ottawasuicideprevention.com/
epayne@ottawacitizen.com
查看原文...
The three-hour training program, called safeTALK, was created by researchers in Calgary. The City of Ottawa will make it available to all of its 17,000 employees, a workforce that includes firefighters, among a range of other staff, but not police.
The program rolls out Thursday — which is World Suicide Prevention Day — with a session for city councillors, political staffers, senior managers and board of health managers. At the end of the training session, each participant receives a sticker that says: “Suicide: You can talk to me.”
The program reflects a growing understanding that training can help people get beyond the stigma surrounding suicide to talk about it and, potentially, help to prevent it in people at risk.
Participants learn about warning signs to look for in co-workers, family members, acquaintances or friends, and how to “ask that difficult question,” about suicide, said Benjamin Leikin, supervisor of the mental health team at Ottawa Public Health.
He said the program helps people to find ways to raise the subject of suicide and ask whether that person is thinking about suicide, based on behaviour, statements or actions. And, crucially, it teaches participants how to link that person with help — through a walk-in mental health clinic, a crisis line, an emergency department, even by calling 911.
“It is very much like first aid training,” said Leikin. “When you are walking down a bike path, I would hope if you saw someone fall, if you had training, you would do a quick assessment, call 911 and keep them safe until people with more training came.”
When it comes to talking about suicide, he said, “we have to move past the uncomfortable conversations to help the individual.”
Public health officials have already offered the program to hundreds of community members and city staff over the past few years. Each of the training sessions filled up quickly, Leikin said — a sign “that this is something that is really important.”
Suicide awareness has been on the front-burner in Ottawa in recent years, especially after the high profile suicide deaths of 15-year-old Jamie Hubley and 14-year-old Daron Richardson.
Schools have focused on the issue, with programs in Grades 7 and 8 to help students develop coping strategies and resiliency. Parents are being encouraged to talk with their children about their mental health.
In Ottawa, the Youth Services Bureau offers a 24 hour crisis response (613-260-2360 or 1-877-377-7775 or email crisis@ysb.ca), and a mental health walk-in clinic.
Suicide is the second leading cause of death among youth and young adults between the ages of 15 and 29 in Ottawa. But the highest rates of suicide are among middle-aged men, with almost two-thirds of about 66 suicides in Ottawa each year within that group.
Training a workforce, can help people reach out to those they work with or interact with at home and in the community. The size of the city workforce means the program could potentially touch many people across the city. Of those who have already done the training, 90 per cent said they felt prepared to conduct a suicide prevention intervention.
“This training has absolutely saved lives throughout the world and here locally,” said Leikin.
In addition to the Youth Services Bureau line, crisis and counselling help is available through the 24-hour Kids Help Phone (1 800 668-6868) and the Distress Centre of Ottawa (613 238-3311). A list of mental health walk in clinics is available at walkincounselling.com. For more information: www.ottawasuicideprevention.com/
epayne@ottawacitizen.com
查看原文...
