President and Fellows of Harvard College

Problem:

An international, expert panel concluded that physician education and limiting access to lethal means can prevent suicide, the third leading cause of death to adolescents. MCH providers report having little training in managing suicidal youth. GOALS & OBJECTIVES: Goal 1: Improve the ability and willingness of practitioners to counsel families of suicidal youth on reducing lethal means of suicide at home. Obj. 1.1. Work with collaborators to develop a sixth workshop in the NCSPT series, “Coun¬se¬ling on Reducing Suicidal Youths’ Access to Lethal Means.” (7/08-2/09) Obj. 1.2. Pilot test, strategically market, and implement Workshop 6. (3/09-10/09) Goal 2: Improve emergency department (ED) policies and protocols for treating youth self-harm patients. Obj. 2.1. Work with collaborators to develop “Workshop 7: Improving ED Policies for Pediatric Self-Harm Patients.” (3/09-10/09) Obj. 2.2. Pilot test, strategically market, and implement Workshop 7. (11/09-6/10) Goal 3: Evaluate both workshops and disseminate results to improve future MCH and suicide prevention training efforts. Obj. 3.1. Assess impact of workshops on participants’ professional practices. (2/10-6/11) Obj. 3.2. Disseminate findings to professional audiences. (10/10-6/11) ACTIVITIES: This proposal seeks to add two new courses to a free, on-line, ongoing series (“Center for Suicide Prevention Training” [NCSPT]). NCSPT is a collaboration be¬tween the Harvard School of Public Health’s Injury Control Research Center (HICRC) and EDC’s Suicide Prevention Resource Center (SPRC). The existing workshops in the NCSPT series have attracted 3,300 registrants from all 50 US states and nine countries. The proposed project will add two new workshops that focus on clinical skills and public health leadership skills in managing the care of suicidal youth. The workshops feature an interdisciplinary, evidence-based, public health approach and emphasize cultural competence and family-centered care. RELEVANT HP 2010 OBJECTIVES: Obj. 18-1: Reduce the suicide rate. Obj. 18-2: Reduce the rate of suicide attempts by adolescents. Obj. 18-7: Increase the proportion of children with mental health problems who receive treatment. COORDINDATION: HICRC will research, write, produce, and evaluate the courses with input from content specialists and SPRC. SPRC will host the Web site and permanently administer and maintain the workshops . Both groups will promote the workshops.

Evaluation:

We will examine course enrollment data, Web usage statistics, pre-test and post-test scores, evaluation form data, and feedback from pilot test participants. We will contact a sample of trainees three months after they complete a workshop to document changes in professional practice resulting from training.