Overview
Families and communities also play an important role in suicide prevention. When communities are knowledgeable about the risks of suicide, protective factors that reduce risk, and available resources, they can support vulnerable youth and promote social connectedness.
What should families learn?
Community and family suicide prevention programs should help participants:
- Identify risk factors and warning signs of suicide
- Identify protective factors
- Identify mental health resources in the school and in the community
- Learn how to get help for suicidal students at school and in the community
- Reduce stigma associated with mental illness
- Address common myths about suicide
- Learn how to talk to children about suicide
- Learn how to reduce student access to lethal means (e.g., locking up firearms and storing medication safely), via a program like Lock and Talk
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