Suicide

2009-2013 Northwest Suicide Prevention Tribal Action Plan

The Northwest Suicide Prevention Tribal Action Plan is the product of a collaborative, year-long planning process initiated by members of the Tribal Suicide Prevention Team.

The goal of the Action Plan is to reduce suicide rates among American Indians and Alaska Natives living in the Pacific Northwest. It is our hope that the Action Plan will be actively used by the Tribes of the Northwest Portland Area Indian Health Board and by other partnering agencies to guide program planning, serve as a catalyst for community awareness and outreach, and to foster a coordinated response to suicide in our tribal communities.

Northwest Suicide Prevention Tribal Action Plan
NPAIHB Resolution: Link available in January 2009

Tribal Suicide Prevention Team: Meeting Minutes

January 2009
April 2009
July 2009
October 2009

January 2008 Minutes
April 2008 Minutes, Meeting Handouts
July 2008 Minutes, Meeting Handouts
October 2008 Minutes, Meeting Handouts

Suicide Data

From May 20-June 20, 2008, the Community Readiness Assessment was completed by 25 people representing 11 Tribes in the Pacific Northwest and 7 partnering agencies (Including: Health & Welfare - Idaho; Indian Health Service, NARA NW, Native Wellness Institute, NPAIHB, Portland State University Healing Feathers, and State Department of Education - Idaho). The attached is a compilation of their initial survey responses. To protect respondents, all tribal identifiers have been removed from this summary.

Oregon Native Youth Risk Survey

The Oregon Native Youth Survey (ONYS) is based upon the Oregon Healthy Teen survey (which is made up of the Youth Risk Behavior Survey and the Student Drug Use Survey), the Communities That Care (CTC) survey (developed by Hawkins and Catalano at UW Seattle), and the Voices of Indian Teens survey (Dr. Spero Manson, PI). Native American Rehabilitation Association (NARA), which has been using the survey tool, added a peer suicide knowledge section from the Lifelines PreTest Questionnaire and additional questions about protective factors based on the concept of resiliency. The survey was also reviewed for cultural appropriateness by a cultural advisory team at NARA-NW. NARA has been granted permission to use parts/all of these surveys and/or they are public domain.

The second to last question (#108) is meant to be tailored to the particular Tribe or community it will be implemented in. The ONYS is also designed to be used along with focus groups for a better understanding of how the actual intervention activities are experienced by the youth. Folks are welcome to tweak and perfect (and share their tweaking with us, please!).

Please contact Tamara Perkins, of NPC Research, with any questions. NPC Research would be most interested in contracting with interested communities to work on implementation and analysis.
Tamara Perkins - http://www.npcresearch.com

Native Youth Survey

Tribal Suicide Prevention Resource Directory

A compendium of suicide prevention resources: Link coming soon

Tribal Crisis Response Teams

NW Tribal Contact List: Link coming soon

Other Action Plans and Promising Strategies

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