Grief after Suicide
  • Grief After Suicide Blog
  • Personal Grief Coaching
  • Training & Presentations
  • Suggest a Story
  • Contact

WHEN SOMEONE DIES BY SUICIDE, ALL SYSTEMS MUST PROVIDE HELP

5/29/2015

0 Comments

 
Infographic: Levels of Care in Aftermath of Suicide

By Franklin Cook

The special report "Systems Must Include Three Levels of Care for Aftermath of Suicide" (available to read or download below) is essential reading for anyone involved in developing, implementing, or assessing services designed to help people who have been affected by a suicide fatality, such as first responders, mental health practitioners, and the suicide bereaved.

Based on recently released national guidelines,* the report delineates three levels of care:
   • Immediate response: crisis assistance, triage and referral, follow-up
   • Support: assistance with grief and loss, self-help
   • Treatment: interventions for potentially debilitating conditions

Quoting Goal 6 of the guidelines -- which is to "ensure that people exposed to a suicide receive essential and appropriate information" -- the report explains that providing such information is a goal that applies across all three levels of care. It also features an addendum, "Information for People Exposed to a Suicide" that outlines the kinds of information that are valuable to people exposed to a suicide and points to the online resource directory available at bit.ly/afterasuicide.


Read More
0 Comments

GROUNDBREAKING GUIDELINES ADDRESS GRIEF, TRAUMA, DISTRESS OF SUICIDE LOSS

4/20/2015

4 Comments

 
Picture

By Franklin Cook

A historic document, Responding to Grief, Trauma, and Distress After a Suicide: U.S. National Guidelines, was announced earlier this month at the Association for Death Education and Counseling conference in San Antonio and at the American Association of Suicidology conference in Atlanta. The Grief After Suicide blog -- in an upcoming series of posts -- will cover a number of ways that this groundbreaking document is paving the way for reinventing postvention in America. For instance, the guidelines:

• Summarize research evidence showing that exposure to suicide unquestionably increases the chances that those exposed -- perhaps especially the bereaved -- are at higher risk for suicide as well as for numerous, sometimes debilitating mental health conditions
• Highlight the effects of a fatality on people beyond family members of the deceased, including friends, first responders, clinicians, colleagues, and others (even entire communities) who may require support in the wake of a suicide
• Describe a new framework for classifying people who experience a suicide (Exposed, Affected, Short-Term Bereaved, and Long-Term Bereaved) that will help focus research and guide the development of programs and services to meet the unique needs of specific populations (see the graphic at bit.ly/continuummodel)
• Advocate for a systems approach, through organizing interventions into three separate, overlapping categories:
    • Immediate Response: Based on mental-health crisis and disaster response principles
    • Support: From the familial, peer, faith-based, and community resources that help the bereaved cope with a death
    • Treatment: By licensed clinicians for conditions such as PTSD, Depression, and Complicated Grief
• Argue that suicide bereavement is unique because death by suicide is unique (i.e., it involves questions about the deceased's volition, the effects of trauma, the degree that suicide is preventable, and the role of stigma in people's treatment of the deceased and the bereaved)
• Present an outline of the research needed to expand and enrich what is known about suicide bereavement and other effects of suicide (which will lead to the development of evidence-based practices in suicide postvention)
• Assert that suicide grief support efforts ought to be informed by research and clinical advances over the past 20 years in the fields of bereavement support, traumatology, and crisis and disaster preparedness
• Include an appendix outlining numerous, practical resources for the suicide bereaved and those who care for them (please link to the expanded, online version of the resource clearinghouse)


An excerpt of the guidelines (Table of Contents, Executive Summary, Acknowledgements, Preface) is available at bit.ly/excerptsosl, and the complete document is available at bit.ly/respondingsuicide. The guidelines were created by the Survivors of Suicide Loss Task Force of the National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention.
4 Comments

FREE MANUAL GUIDES DESIGN OF COMPREHENSIVE SUICIDE GRIEF SUPPORT

9/30/2013

0 Comments

 
The recently published "Pathways to Purpose & Hope" is a comprehensive manual providing expert guidance, pointing to key resources, and sharing practical examples on how to create a community-based organization to support survivors of suicide loss. And the entire manual -- all 100-plus pages of some of the most practical information available on suicide grief support -- is absolutely free to download.

The manual was created by Friends for Survival, one of the oldest survivor-run organizations in the country focused exclusively on suicide grief support (and which publishes the "Comforting Friends" newsletter). Although the manual was designed for a California audience, 95% of it is applicable to any community anywhere in the country, and anyone interested in developing a broad range of survivor services would be wise to add it to their list of prime references.

It begins with this claim:
Survivors need more than a meeting with a couple of sympathetic souls and a box of tissues These guidelines are based on a program designed by 50 survivors over a period of 30 years to provide multiple services to meet the complex needs of survivors in the aftermath of suicide. This guide offers a detailed discussion of the process for creating and sustaining a suicide bereavement support program that is effective, community based and supported by professional resources in the local area.

Read More
0 Comments

NEW GUIDE GIVES EMPLOYERS STEP-BY-STEP AID WHEN AN EMPLOYEE DIES BY SUICIDE

5/17/2013

0 Comments

 
An excellent resource is now available to help employers respond effectively when an employee dies by suicide. The resource, "A Manager's Guide to Suicide Postvention in the Workplace," is aptly subtitled "10 Action Steps for Dealing with the Aftermath of a Suicide" and is available as a free download. The Guide begins with a clear definition of the word postvention, a term unfamiliar to many people outside the suicide prevention field:
Postvention is psychological first aid, crisis intervention, and other support offered after a suicide to affected individuals or the workplace as a whole to alleviate possible negative effects of the event.

The Guide outlines the vital roles managers play when a crisis situation occurs in a workplace, including fostering effective communications, providing helpful resources, and setting an example for employees. The 10 action steps are designed for implementation in any work setting, and the Guide concisely explains the rationale for each step, illustrates its implementation, provides a checklist of substeps, and points to authoritative resources supporting its recommendations.

It also includes templates to guide employers in communicating news of a death to employees and to the public.

The Action Steps are:

Read More
0 Comments

GUIDELINES FOR POLICE HELPING THE SUICIDE BEREAVED GAIN GROUND IN U.K.

3/6/2013

0 Comments

 
The police department in the county of Gloucestershire, England, "is believed to be the first in the country to produce guidelines designed to help officers deal with people when a loved one has taken their own life," according to a report in the local newspaper.

Gloucestershire Police Commissioner Martin Surl explains the importance of the guidelines for law enforcement:

"It's a sad fact, and surprising in this day and age, that ... the [suicide] bereaved are not immediately offered support in the same way as victims of crime. As a result, they may not always receive the help they are entitled to, and this is an area where I hope we can help. Very often a police officer is the first 'official' person they come into contact with, so it's very important [that the police are] equipped to deal with what is always a very difficult and sensitive situation."
[Editorial Comment: I am hopeful that this blog post on the work in the U.K. raises awareness about this vital need among law enforcement officers and prompts collaborative efforts in the United States to identify and develop guidelines that can be implemented systematically across the country to help meet the needs of survivors of suicide loss in the immediate aftermath of a death.]

Read More
0 Comments

'GRIEF AFTER SUICIDE' IS A 'MUST READ' FOR CAREGIVERS

8/31/2012

1 Comment

 

Grief after Suicide: Understanding the Consequences and Caring for the Survivors, edited by John R. Jordan and John L. McIntosh, is a groundbreaking book featuring in-depth coverage of every aspect of suicide grief support. The book's goals, according to its editors,

are to establish not only what is known about suicide survivors and postvention efforts to assist them, but also to draw attention to vital information that is not known but would help us to better understand and assist survivors of suicide ... [including] recommendations for future research and postvention goals for the future.

The editors and more than 40 contributors to the book's chapters solidly accomplish those goals, covering in-depth and comprehensively the most up-to-date information about an impressive range of topics of interest to people working with the suicide bereaved. The editors begin by asking and attempting to answer several fundamental questions:



Read More
1 Comment

U.S. PRACTITIONERS CALLED UPON TO IMPROVE SUICIDE GRIEF SUPPORT NATIONALLY

5/28/2012

 
Note: Anyone who works in the field of suicide grief support is invited to read the "Suicide Bereavement Caregivers Statement of Purpose" and comment on it here.

This Memorial Day -- in honor of all of who have died by suicide and those who mourn their loss -- a call to action, the "Suicide Bereavement Caregivers Statement of Purpose," is being delivered to grief practitioners across the United States, including
  • funeral professionals, 
  • clergy, 
  • law enforcement personnel, 
  • emergency medical services workers,
  • crisis workers, 
  • mental health practitioners, 
  • grief counselors, 
  • support group facilitators, 
  • educators, 
  • researchers, 
  • physicians, and 
  • military personnel.
Designed as a rallying cry "to make certain that people bereaved by suicide receive the help they need, when and where they need it, in ways that increase their capacity and opportunity to live full and fruitful lives," the Statement of Purpose outlines what it will take to establish strong suicide grief support services across the country: 
  • Suicide bereavement "programs, policies, and services" must be included in "a comprehensive national response to suicide."
  • Communities' postvention efforts must be strengthened through "collaboration among everyone with a stake in suicide bereavement services."
  • Community-based suicide grief support that is "accessible, proactive, age-appropriate, culturally sensitive, effective, and sustainable" must be implemented nationally.
  • Research must be pursued to develop "an evidence base for effective grief interventions and other tools" to help survivors of suicide loss.
  • The public must be educated through information that accurately depicts the causes of suicide and its impact on individuals, communities, and society.
The document was authored by practitioners who have spoken out for years on behalf of improved services for survivors, several of whom now serve on the Survivors of Suicide Loss Task Force of the National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention, which is a newly formed group with the following goal:
Develop consensus guidelines for the creation and implementation of effective, comprehensive support programs for survivors of suicide loss. The Guidelines will serve as a crystallizing benchmark for organizations, communities, states, and the nation for the development of a support infrastructure for survivors of suicide loss.
    FREE NEWSLETTER
    BLOG HOME PAGE
    • "After a Suicide" Resources 
    • Directory of Survivor Support Groups


    Categories

    All
    Advocacy & Policy
    Announcements
    Black Community
    Children's Grief
    Community Support
    Death Of A Child
    Death Of A Friend
    Death Of A Parent
    Death Of A Sibling
    Death Of A Spouse
    Depression & Grief
    Experts On Grief
    First Responders
    FJC's Journal
    Grief And Communities
    Health & Grief
    Helping Others
    Holidays
    Men's Grief
    Military
    National Guidelines
    Peer Support
    Programs And Services
    Research
    Spirituality & Grief
    Suicide Prevention
    Support Groups
    Survivor Outlook
    Survivor Resources
    Survivor Showcase
    Survivor Stories
    Taking Action
    Trauma

    Grief after Suicide posts are by Franklin Cook (unless noted). Learn more about Franklin's work in suicide grief support.
    Blogs on Suicide Grief
    • Alliance of Hope
    • Healing Suicide Grief
    • Lala's Mom
    • Our Side of Suicide
    • Mary's Shortcut
    • Loss of a Child
    • Bright Shining Star
    • Speaking of Suicide
    • Everything But the Cat

    RSS Feed

    TERMS OF USE AND SERVICE
    Must be read by anyone posting any content on this website.

    © 2016 Personal Grief Coaching.
    All Rights Reserved.