Combining Multiple, Evidence-Informed Approaches
Review effective approaches When choosing approaches (programs, policies, and practices) it is crucial to draw from ones that have been shown to be effective for preventing suicide. Both CDC’s Suicide Prevention Technical Package and SPRC’s Best Practices Registry provide a variety of evidence-based programs, policies, and practices that communities can use to reach their goals […]
Putting Your Plan into Action
List suicide prevention activities in your plan Your goals and objectives should guide you in choosing the activities to include in your strategic plan. While goals and objectives describe what will be achieved in a measurable way, they do not include the activities and action steps for how to reach those outcomes. The activities you […]
Using Data to Choose Goals and Objectives
Analyze data and interpret results Use existing data and CNAs to identify the suicide prevention needs in the populations and areas of your community that are most impacted by suicide. (See Data element, Key Area 1 and Key Area 2). Pay special attention to the risk and protective factors leading to the problem of suicide […]
Laying Out a Strategic Planning Process
Form strategic planning workgroup or subcommittee Depending on the size of your existing coalition, your whole group may play a role in developing your strategic plan. However, if you have a large coalition, consider seeking volunteers to serve on a strategic planning subcommittee. This subcommittee should involve the data subcommittee partners and/or community needs assessment […]
Using Data to Assess Progress and Make Changes
Establish expectations, roles, and processes Set up realistic expectations, roles, and processes for monitoring data. Having an established data subcommittee or workgroup in place will help significantly. Try to balance the desire to have continuous suicide prevention data with what your data partners can most realistically do. For example, it may not be realistic for […]
Gathering Information on Community Context
Assess ability to gather community context data Engaging in data collection will take both time and investment from your coalition members. Ask members what resources, skills, and knowledge they can invest in gathering community information, as well as what timeline is feasible for gathering the data. If members have limited ability to invest in CNA […]
Creating a Shared Vision
Working with Coalitions and Advisory Groups
Accessing Systems Data
Ensure your ability to work with data Make sure that your suicide prevention group has the ability to collect, analyze, and interpret data. Invite individuals with data expertise to participate in your suicide prevention coalition or related group. These individuals might include department of health data analysts, community college professors, epidemiologists, and statisticians. Individuals with […]
