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| Original News Release |
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| Original News Release |
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PANEL MAKES
RECOMMENDATIONS ON CHILD SUICIDE PREVENTION |
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BURNABY- A death review panel established by the BC
Coroners Service to examine findings of a five-year review has issued 17
recommendations aimed at preventing future child and youth suicide deaths.
Recommendation
1
Ministry of Healthy Living and Sport, Ministry of Health Services, Provincial Health Services
Authority of
As government develops an updated 10-year mental health plan for B.C.:
• adopt a government-wide approach to
promotion, prevention and early intervention in mental health for children and
youth, including detection and response to suicidal behaviour, similar to the
province’s approach to the promotion of positive physical health.
• call for targeted efforts to reduce the
stigma and discrimination associated with mental disorders.
Recommendation 2
Ministry of Healthy Living and Sport
Develop population-level mental health indicators to support effective
delivery of population mental health strategies and enhanced knowledge of the
mental health status of B.C. children and youth.
Recommendation
3
Ministry of Education,
To increase resiliency and coping skills in children and youth, deliver
curriculum based universal skill-building programs in all B.C. schools.
Recommendation
4
Ministry of Children and Family Development
Develop a mental health literacy tool to assist B.C. families in
recognizing and responding to signs of mental health problems involving
children and youth, and to distinguish these from normal developmental
processes.
Recommendation
5
Ministry of Children and Family Development,
Ministry of Healthy Living and Sport
Establish a web-based information clearinghouse for B.C., which will
serve as a centralized access point for resources on promotion, prevention and
early intervention in mental health (including suicide prevention and
postvention). Its development should include a communications plan that
promotes regular and ongoing use by both professionals and the public.
Recommendation
6
Crisis Intervention and Suicide Prevention
Centre of
Across B.C., deliver community-based gatekeeper training programs to
improve recognition of and response to suicidal behaviour among those who have
regular, non-clinical contact with children and youth. Programs should include
an evaluation component and target a diverse group of potential interveners in
the community – for example, teachers, coaches, employers, police officers,
probation officers, clergy and other community leaders.
Recommendation
7
Ministry of Education, Ministry of Children
and Family Development, British Columbia School Trustees Association, Crisis
Intervention and Suicide Prevention Centre of British Columbia
Offer evidence-based peer recognition and response training to youth in
all B.C. school districts. This training should be offered on a continual basis
and be delivered as part of a holistic school-based approach to preventing
suicide that incorporates other recommendations made by the panel, including
universal systematic screening and the development of crisis response
protocols.
Recommendation
8
Ministry of Education, Ministry of Healthy
Living and Sport,
To improve school connectedness, engagement and attendance among B.C.
youth, implement systematic, school-based screening to identify students who
require enhanced skills-based social support. This screening program should
incorporate evidence-based suicide predictors and include measures to ensure
that enhanced support and adequate follow-up are provided when a need is
identified.
Recommendation
9
Ministry of Education, Ministry of Healthy
Living and Sport,
Using a “determinants of health” approach to address emotional and
behavioural problems among children and youth, implement province-wide policies
or programs that aim to improve school connectedness. Interventions should
integrate both school-based and community-based strategies to improve a child
or youth’s connection with peers, teachers and the learning process.
Recommendation
10
Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure
Improve means restriction efforts in B.C. by:
• retrofitting the five bridges in B.C that
are responsible for over 50 per cent of suicide deaths by jumping from 1991 to
2007 (Burrard Street Bridge, Granville Street Bridge, Iron Workers Memorial
Bridge, Lions Gate Bridge, Pattullo Bridge) with barriers to prevent future
suicide deaths by jumping.
• developing policy that establishes criteria
for determining when bridges should be outfitted with barriers to prevent
suicide by jumping, and enforcing this policy in the construction of all new
bridges in B.C.
Recommendation
11
Information and Privacy Commissioner
Develop and distribute a policy handbook to support accurate, consistent
interpretation and practice of confidentiality requirements among those working
in child-serving jurisdictions. This handbook should address appropriate
sharing of information within the circle of care, including families, when a
child or youth is determined to be at risk to him/herself or others, as
dictated under relevant provincial and federal legislation (including the
Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, Infants Act, Child,
Family and Community Service Act, and Youth Criminal Justice Act).
Recommendation
12
Ministry of Children and Family Development,
Ministry of Health Services, British Columbia Medical Association, College of
Registered Nurses of British Columbia, College of Physicians and Surgeons of
British Columbia, British Columbia School Counsellors’ Association
Provide point-of-care practitioners across B.C. with ongoing yearly
continuing professional education on effective recognition and treatment of
adolescent depression and suicidal behaviour.
Recommendation
13
Ministry of Health Services, Ministry of
Children and Family Development
Develop a suicide response protocol for B.C. hospital emergency rooms,
to be initiated after an assessment of a child or youth in an emergency ward
when suicidal behaviour has been noted. The protocol should specify that at the
point of discharge from the emergency ward the following occurs:
• notification of parent or guardian.
• education of family/caregivers on
restricting access to suicidal means within the home (for example, safe storage
of prescription medications).
• creation of a safety plan.
• immediate notification of the patient’s
community mental health team.
• sending of a discharge summary to the
patient and his or her family, the patient’s family doctor and community mental
health team.
Upon receiving this notification, the community mental health team
should follow up with the child or youth within 24 hours.
Recommendation
14
Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor
General, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Children and Family Development,
Ministry of Health Services, Ministry of Healthy Living and Sport, Crisis
Intervention and Suicide Prevention Centre of British Columbia, First Nations
Health Council.
Establish a provincial task force that will advance suicide postvention
efforts in B.C. by completing an environmental scan of crisis-response teams
and/or suicide-response protocols that exist in B.C. municipalities, and:
• where response teams exist, determining
their nature and membership.
• in municipalities that currently lack them,
supporting the establishment of crisis-response teams or protocols while
encouraging the use of existing postvention models that have shown success in
other jurisdictions.
Recommendation
15
Ministry of Health Services, Ministry of
Healthy Living and Sport
As supported by the provincial Public Health Act, develop a surveillance
system for suicide attempts in B.C. that brings together currently available
data systems and draws from successful surveillance models in other areas.
Recommendation
16
Adopt and ensure province-wide adherence to best practices for media
coverage of suicide deaths, as outlined in currently available guidelines, such
as the (
Recommendation
17
Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor
General
Following a suicide death, ensure that survivors receive existing
postvention resources directly. Suicide survivors may include family members,
friends, school peers, care providers, co-workers and others who have been
affected by a suicide death.
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contact: |
Senior Public Affairs Officer Office of the Chief Coroner 604 660-7752 |
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