Suicide can have a devastating impact on a community. The shock and grief can ripple throughout the community affecting friends, co-workers, schools, and faith communities, and more. Postvention is a term used to describe how different systems and organizations work together using a planned response protocol to respond to a suicide or any sudden death. Because knowing someone who has died of suicide is one of the biggest risk factors for suicide, we see postvention as a powerful and necessary component of suicide prevention efforts.
In 2015, Oregon became the first state in the country to mandate suicide postvention planning for each county. To facilitate thoughtful and comprehensive postvention planning and responses, we have partnered with NAMI-New Hampshire to provide Connect Postvention trainings throughout the state. The Connect Postvention training model provides community building, education, and strategic planning for service providers who may be called on for help in the aftermath of a suicide.
Training Highlights:
- Best Practices on how to coordinate a safe and supportive response to a suicide
- Strategies for reducing the risk of additional suicide attempts or deaths
- Review of the complexity of suicide-related grief, especially for different age groups
- National Best practices on talking safely about suicide, responding to media, funerals and memorials
- How to help individuals, families, and communities heal
- Creating a suicide postvention response plan, including immediate and long term actions
This training is ideal for professionals who may respond to a suicide death in their community including school personnel, social service providers, faith leaders, first responders, mental health professionals, mental health/substance abuse service providers, tribal entities, bereavement specialists, and more.
Other Connect Program offerings:
2-Day Comprehensive Connect Training
- Day 1 – Connect Training
- Day 2 – Facilitated Community Postvention Planning Session
- For Counties and Tribes – tailored to meet the needs of your community
Connect Training of Trainers
- Day 1 Connect Training
- Day 2 & 3 – Training of Trainers
- By Application
Partners in Postvention Quarterly Gathering
- For Connect trainers and other partners in postvention work
- Program updates, presentations, opportunities to connect
Connect Training is FREE
To learn more about Connect, contact:
Lucina Armstrong Michaud
Suicide Prevention Program Lead
Association of Oregon Community Mental Health Programs
Office: 503-399-7201
Cell: 503-886-9171
lmichaud@aocmhp.org