Texas Advancing Suicide Safer Schools Roadmap

How to access this supplemental

Visit https://txspc.learnworlds.com/course/texas-advancing-suicide-safer-schools-roadmap

What is the supplemental? 

The Texas Advancing Suicide Safer Schools Roadmap was developed by the Texas Suicide Prevention Collaborative and its authors. This Roadmap provides public health information based on best practices for suicide prevention, intervention and postvention. It is recommended that each Element be used in the order presented, to ensure a comprehensive approach to suicide prevention planning.    

Who is the supplemental for? 

The Roadmap is intended for school leaders who are planning and implementing school wide suicide prevention best practices.  

How is this supplemental implemented? 

The Roadmap is intended for planning purposes. Each Element is presented in its recommended order of use and builds upon the information and process outcomes that are developed in previous Elements. This Roadmap is intended to be used as recommended.  

What is the practice that is supported? 

Community based suicide prevention is forming a broad coalition within a community to carry out prevention activities that reflect local needs and resources. The Suicide Prevention Resource Center (SPRC) maintains that the community is an important setting for suicide prevention and includes schools, afterschool programs, places of worship, workplaces, and health care providers as examples of where community-based suicide prevention should take place. 

What outcomes does the practice produce? 

• Increase in awareness of suicide warning signs 
• Increase in awareness of resources for help related to suicide risk 
• Improve skills, knowledge, and attitudes for suicide prevention and intervention  
• Reduce stigma around mental health and suicide prevention 
• Improve likelihood of youth seeking help if they or their peers are at risk of suicide 

What is the evidence? 

Schmidt, R. C., Iachini, A. L., George, M., Koller, J., & Weist, M. (2015). Integrating a Suicide Prevention Program into a School Mental Health System: A Case Example from a Rural School District. Children & Schools, 37(1), 18–26. https://doi.org/10.1093/cs/cdu026 

In this case study, a rural school district’s integration of a community wide suicide prevention program with the district’s current school mental health system was evaluated. Throughout the integration of the suicide prevention program, data from 5,949 sixth through twelfth graders was evaluated for four academic years. Among the data being evaluated is the student’s knowledge and help seeking behavior to support their peers with suicidal thoughts. Results showed that students’ knowledge about suicide ideation and help seeking increased because of the suicide prevention program. The number of students stating that they would seek help from an adult if they were concerned a friend would hurt themselves grew 13 percentage points, from 83% before the program to 96% after the program.  

Cusimano, M. D., & Sameem, M. (2011). The effectiveness of middle and high school-based suicide prevention programmes for adolescents: A systematic review. Injury Prevention, 17(1), 43–49. https://doi.org/10.1136/ip.2009.025502 

This metanalysis evaluates the efficacy of suicide prevention programs to improve knowledge, attitudes, and help-seeking behaviors for middle and high school students. There were 8 studies included in the analysis which evaluated 6 different school-based suicide prevention programs. After review of the studies, the metanalysis shows that school-based suicide prevention programs can improve knowledge, attitudes, and help seeking behavior. The analysis also showed that there was no evidence of suicide prevention programs having negative impacts on the community like increasing suicidal ideation or feelings of hopelessness. 

What are the costs associated with implementing this practice? 

The Texas Suicide Safer Schools Roadmap is presented by the Texas Suicide Prevention Collaborative. Registration to access the Roadmap is for all Texas schools.   

What resources are helpful for understanding this supplemental? 

• Register to access the Texas Suicide Safer Schools Roadmap: https://txspc.learnworlds.com/course/texas-advancing-suicide-safer-schools-roadmap 
• Texas Suicide Safer Schools website: https://texassuicideprevention.org/suicide-safer-schools/ 

Rating: Research-Informed 

Secondary components: Grief and Trauma- Informed practices; Early Mental Health Prevention and Intervention; Positive, Safe, and Supportive School Climates