Abstract of Distinction: Assessing and Improving the Landscape of Statewide School Suicide Prevention: Utilization of a Research-Practice Partnership Approach

Introduction: Youth suicide in Oregon is a serious community health issue, with rates that have exceeded the national average for the majority of the past decade. To address this concerning trend, Oregon passed legislation in 2012 mandating the establishment of the Youth Suicide Intervention and Prevention Plan (YSIPP) with the purpose of reducing suicide risk for youth and young adults aged 10-24 years old. In the role of YSIPP participatory-evaluators, prevention researchers from the University of Oregon (UO) identified the need to establish baseline data regarding what suicide-related practices and protocols were being employed in public schools across the state. By leveraging a research-practice-partnership (RPP) comprised of the state’s educational governing agency, key professional associations, and a statewide suicide prevention Alliance, UO prevention researchers helped disseminate, collect, and analyze an environmental scan in the form of a brief inventory-based survey.

Methods: RPP stakeholders utilized an iterative approach to design a 13-question electronic survey organized into three domains: (a) status of current suicide-related programming, (b) suicide prevention attitudes, barriers, and supports, and (c) level of interest for RPP collaboration. Using the RPP network, the survey was disseminated to all Oregon public schools (N = 1,251) using the listservs of school administrators, counselors, and nurses. Data linkage strategies were then used to connect survey responses to two external datasets (i.e., Oregon Department of Education Report Cards, Oregon Office of Rural Health Rural Classifications) for richer demographic based analyses.

Results: Findings revealed a wide variance in suicide prevention efforts across schools in the areas of evidence-based program implementation, suicide prevention comfort level, and access to a postvention plan. The Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST) was the most frequently reported (n = 144) program in use. Of the schools that responded (N = 434), the vast majority (n = 305) indicated an interest in future RPP collaboration.

Discussion: The results from the environmental scan conducted by UO prevention scientists help elucidate what the current landscape of suicide prevention resembles in Oregon public schools. Additionally, the UO evaluation team is designing a suicide prevention school response system that will provide schools a customized package of resources, strategies, and guidelines based on the individual school’s staff knowledge, comfort, and implementation experience with suicide prevention programs.