Welcome and Warm-up

Kirk Postlewaite, Senior Program Specialist/Director, VTSPC, Eric Jones, Technology and Marketing Specialist, and Zan Lewis, Program Specialist, CHL

Kirk opened the meeting, sharing that the 10th Annual Vermont Suicide Prevention Symposium will run as a full-day virtual event on September 27th. Kirk shared information about the event including how to register. Kirk also introduced members of CHL staff present at the staff meeting and gave an agenda overview for the morning.

Update on Comprehensive Suicide Prevention and Garrett Lee Smith Grants at the Vermont Department of Health

Elora Taylor, Youth Suicide Prevention Coordinator with the VT Department of Health, shared the 2023 Suicide Prevention Social Media Toolkit for Suicide Prevention Awareness Month, which can be found on FacingSuicideVT.com/toolkits/. Elora also shared that the Governor held a Press Conference on September 6th on promoting mental health wellness and suicide prevention. She announced the upcoming release of the the Suicide Data Linkage Project results on September 12th.

Elora discussed two products developed by the Center for Health and Learning under the CSP grant: the Vermont Guide to Finding a Mental Health Professional, and the Lethal Means Safety Resource Guide. The first offers suggestions, tips, action steps and resources to help individuals find a therapist for themselves or a family member, while the second includes a comprehensive listing of various resources organizations and individuals can use to promote safe storage and lethal means safety. Please let the team know if you have other resources to include or general feedback by contacting Deana Chase at Deana@healthandlearning.org. Regular updates to both guides will be made throughout the next two years of the CSP grant.

Department of Mental Health Updates and Introduction of the State Strategic Plan for Suicide Prevention

After sharing some updates on 988, Chris Allen, State Suicide Prevention Director, discussed ACT 56 which describes key projects for the State Director including development of Vermont’s first State Strategic Plan for Suicide Prevention, to be completed by 2024. 

The Strategic Plan focuses on prevention, training, education and postvention. The purpose of the Plan is to provide focus, direction, and structure in suicide prevention approaches and initiatives across the state – to help Vermont focus in on where the need is.

To get involved in the Strategic Plan process, participate in the VTSP Coalition meetings, and reach out to Chris (christopher.m.allen@vermont.gov, 802-760-9208) to connect 1×1 or in a group. Chris will also be asking for feedback later in the planning process, in addition to advisory group opportunities and public listening sessions. The Coalition will be contacted when these opportunities are scheduled.

Update on the monthly suicide data

Caitlin Quinn, Public Health Analyst, shared the Suicide Surveillance Dashboard and the Injury Data page, which includes a list of data briefs on Suicide and Mental Health published by calendar year. 

The Dashboard is updated monthly, which is 100% automatic and allows VDH to give data under a wide variety of demographics. It highlights recent suicide-related injuries and deaths in Vermont. The Dashboard can be found here: https://www.healthvermont.gov/stats/surveillance-reporting-topic/suicide-data. 

The Injury Data page 2023 reports focus on suicide morbidity and mortality by location. Intentional self-poisonings (ISP) presented to the hospital, either inpatient or emergency visit, released in August. In the ISP brief, the overall rate of non-fatal intentional self-poisonings presented at the hospital have decreased, but there has been a significant increase in non-fatal intentional self-poisonings in youth aged 0-14 years of age. Additionally, most fatal ISPS involved prescription medication, either taken by itself or in combination with other substances. View the reports in more detail here: https://www.healthvermont.gov/stats/surveillance-reporting-topic/injury-data.

Independent (not commercial industry funded) research highlights digital/online product exposure and youth suicide risk

Laura Derrendinger BSN, RN, MIA presented on how commercial, for-profit, online and digital product industry influences how research questions are framed and asked as well as how policy and best practice recommendations are oriented when conducting research on the impacts of youth suicide risk and online/digital product exposure. She shared an overview of a variety of independent articles and research that document harms of children and youth by digital and online product exposures. 

Laura provided additional research that can be found in the powerpoint deck and in the full Coalition meeting notes. She also shared case examples of children who had died accidentally or by suicide with the main risk factor contributing to their death being access to online products via a digital device.

Laura wrapped up by sharing evidence-based practice tools for prevention to decrease or remove product exposure, information on VT state and National legislation related to online and digital product harms, and a prevention education course, Screenstrong.

Legislative Priorities Discussion

Kirk Postlewaite, Director, Vermont Suicide Prevention Center, and Terri Lavely, AFSP-VT Board President, led a session on the upcoming Legislative season. Kirk reviewed previous legislative engagement and resulting suicide prevention effort successes in VT, including budget allocations in 2022 to 988, Zero Suicide, the role of State Suicide Prevention Director, and suicide prevention for older Vermonters. In 2023, suicide prevention was a focus in both the House Health and Senate Health and Welfare Committees. Act 56, which lays out the development of the state Suicide Prevention Strategic Plan, among other items, was compiled and launched during the 2023 session. 

AFSP-VT will help Coalition members find and connect with legislators who support prevention efforts in the 2023-24 Legislative season. Coalition members who join the VTSP Coalition Public Policy Committee will have the opportunity to finalize legislative priorities to promote, provide feedback for policy, or take part in advocacy activities with AFSP. To join the committee, please reach out to Heather White at hwhite@afsp.org. Please see full meeting notes and the powerpoint deck for more detailed information and resources.

Lethal Means Safety and Primary Care: Insights from the 2023 Suicide Research Symposium

Tom Delaney, PhD, shared two presentations from the 2023 Suicide Research Symposium, the first being: Supporting Pediatricians in Identifying and Responding to Intentional Self-Poisoning in Young People, by Paige Song and Tom Delaney. He shared that intentional self-poisonings (ISP), while less lethal than firearms, are showing to be an upstream means and are indicative of later suicide attempts. ED visits related to ISP in Vermont between 2017-2021 show an uptick between 2020 and 2021, particularly among young females aged 10-19 years. The study aimed to assess pediatric PCP’s current practices and needs around screening for ISP in their patients. 

The second presentation shared by Tom was Determining Who Healthcare Providers Screen for Firearm Access in the US, by Allison Bond, MA; Jayna Moceri-Brooks, PhD, RN; Taylor Rodriguez, MA; Daniel Semenza, PHD; and Michael Anestis, PhD at the New jersey Gun Violence Research Center. A study in five U.S. states with approximately 3,500 respondents asked the question: “Has a healthcare provider ever asked you if you have access to firearms?” The survey reveals that 17% of adults are asked about firearm access, and 24% of firearm owners in the healthcare setting.

Natalie Ray, DNP, presented her DNP research project, Intentional Self-Poisoning Prevention: A Feasibility Analysis in Pediatric Primary Care. The project’s purpose was to analyze the acceptability and feasibility of distributing medication lockboxes, assess lethal means safety prevention in the pediatric primary care setting, and to identify barriers and facilitators of distribution. Working with two pediatric primary care practices in VT, Natalie and her team distributed materials to the practices, held education sessions, and ensured communication reminders within the 90-day distribution period.

For more information about the above studies’ results and implications, please see the full meeting notes and powerpoint deck.