Strengthening Suicide Prevention Networks: Examining Interorganizational Collaboration and Relationship Strength Dimensions

Introduction: Despite extensive prevention efforts, suicide continues to be the tenth leading cause of death in the United States (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2012). The diverse needs of suicidal individuals, coupled with the disabling nature of severe mental illness, highlight the importance of developing and maintaining integrated systems of care through collaborative community support networks (e.g., Cooper, Lezotte, Jacobellis, & DiGuiseppi, 2006). In order to ensure comprehensive and accessible services to prevent suicide within a community, the factors that promote interorganizational collaboration must be identified and fostered.

The present study utilized a network approach to examine collaboration between organizations involved in suicide prevention in one Colorado community. Specifically, this study examined: 1) the cohesiveness and patterns of relationships across seven domains of collaboration related to suicide prevention, and 2) which dimensions of relationship strength—assessed by communication frequency, trust, and informal relationships—are most strongly associated with interorganizational collaboration across the seven domains.

Method: In collaboration with community partners, a survey was designed to assess interorganizational collaboration and collect relationship strength ratings for each organization. Structured interviews were conducted with two representatives from each of 37 organizations in the suicide prevention network. Organizations were selected based on their involvement in suicide prevention and included mental health, human services, education, law enforcement, religious/faith-based, and crisis intervention.

Results: Organizations reported greater collaboration related to sharing information and resources, and sending and receiving referrals, with fewer reported interactions related to developing service infrastructure and coordinating training and screening activities. Across all seven collaborative domains, a subset of organizations was well connected to other organizations and another group of organizations played a more peripheral role in the network. Z-test model comparisons revealed that trust was the relationship strength dimension most strongly associated with interorganizational collaboration across all seven domains.

Conclusions: The present study provides an innovative assessment of the patterns and correlates of interorganizational collaboration within the context of suicide prevention. Findings suggest that the greatest impact on strengthening interorganizational collaboration can be achieved through developing and maintaining trusting interoganizational relationships. These results may help community members and prevention scientists to better understand the strengths and gaps within community suicide prevention networks as well as how interorganizational collaboration can be enhanced to successfully achieve network goals. Suggestions for future research and strategies for enhancing interorganizational collaboration and trust will be discussed.