In The News: Local leaders collaborate on suicide prevention effort

by Julia Tellman

Following an increase in suicides in Teton Valley within the past year and a half, local stakeholders have begun planning a major effort to educate and guide the public in suicide prevention and broadcast the mental health resources that are available here.

Mental Health Coalition executive director Sara McKeown White said her informal tally from the beginning of 2021 until now, of suicides that either occurred here or impacted families here because of the deceased’s local connections, totals ten people; in the past month alone Teton Valley lost two well-known community members to suicide.

“It’s a significant number, especially considering our numbers in previous years have been zero,” White said. “People don’t necessarily want to talk about it, but we have to.”

After respected orthopedist Dr. Mo Brown died by suicide in late August, Teton Valley Health CEO Keith Gnagey called up the Mental Health Coalition.

“Keith said, ‘what do you need, how can I support you,’ and we agreed that it has to be a community issue, we have to get everyone involved in planning, talking, educating, training, getting the word out about prevention resources, warning signs. It has to be a cross-agency collaboration,” White said.

The pieces quickly fell into place, and on Aug. 31 city and county officials and representatives from law enforcement, fire and rescue, emergency management, probation, social and economic services, and the school district sat down to discuss mental health.

“Everyone realizes that there’s a problem and that we need to take action,” Gnagey said. “It was great attendance at the meeting.”

“The circumstances were unfortunate, it’s not why we want to be meeting, but overall, I was so encouraged to see the leaders of our community come together and engage in this conversation,” White added. “Every one of us has a role to play in preventing suicides. It gives me hope that together we can create a place that’s safe and supportive for all.”

The group invited a representative from the Idaho Lives Project, a partnership between the Idaho State Department of Education and the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare that focuses on preventing and addressing youth suicide, to present on the topic.

“We don’t have to reinvent the wheel,” White said. “Idaho is fifth in the country for death by suicide. It was really important to us to bring in someone who has the pulse on what’s happening across the state, especially in rural communities, to give us guidance on what’s been successful in other places.”

The MHC, which started as a group of providers offering subsidized counseling, was founded because of a tragic suicide cluster event in 2009. White said that the recent spate of suicides has served as a reminder to her organization.

“We did a lot of really good work and we were doing well for awhile. The numbers dropped, and we didn’t necessarily keep suicide at the forefront of our messaging,” she said. “This year has been a wake-up call that we can’t stop this work. We always need to be talking about suicide, we need to make sure that education about it is an ongoing message woven across our community so that we don’t have to suffer more losses.”

In a related effort, Teton Valley Health is wrapping up data collection and analysis for its Community Health Needs Assessment, a study performed once every three years to gauge the valley’s needs that TVH uses to guide policies and services. While community respondents in 2019 listed suicide as a specific item of concern, it was not called out specifically in 2022, but, Gnagey said, mental health generally speaking has again been identified as a top concern for community members this year.

“Teton Valley Health’s role is do what the community needs and help people,” he said. “We’re not the experts in this, we are depending on the Mental Health Coalition to drive the effort, but we want to participate and push it forward. We want to continue to expand the group to more and more people who can engage and contribute to the conversation.”

Local leaders met again after press time on Sept. 6 as part of the Local Emergency Planning Committee to further address suicide prevention and education:

-A Crisis and Suicide Prevention Task Force will be formed to guide individual and community level planning. Anyone who wants to be involved should reach out to the MHC—call or text (208) 354-6198, email info@tetonvalleymentalhealth.com, or visit tetonvalleymentalhealth.com. No prior knowledge or experience is necessary.

-Agencies will have targeted, collaborative marketing and social media strategies centered around sharing resources and education opportunities.

-A Remembrance Event will be held later in September in honor of Suicide Prevention Awareness Month and to commemorate those who are gone. Details will be released soon. White said she wants to see this become an annual event.

-Gatekeeper training will be offered to agencies and businesses. Several local organizations have already received training or signed up for it, including the Family Safety Network, Teton Valley Food Pantry, Community Resource Center, and Teton County department supervisors.

“Our goal is to see everyone in Teton Valley take a QPR training,” White said. QPR, meaning Question, Persuade and Refer, is like CPR for a mental health emergency, she explained. It helps people know what language to use and how to help someone in crisis.

It’s important to remember that asking someone if they are having suicidal thoughts is not harmful, White added.

“Don’t be afraid to talk about suicide,” she emphasized. “You’re not putting the idea in their head, and studies show that asking the question can save lives. And people should know they don’t have to suffer or struggle alone. Talk to the Mental Health Coalition, we’re here to help, we can pay for counseling, or call 988, the suicide prevention hotline.”

The Idaho Crisis and Suicide Hotline provides 24/7 free and confidential behavioral health crisis support at 988. You can call or text the hotline for yourself or for a loved one. Local mental health resources are available through the Mental Health Coalition at (208) 354-6198.

This originally ran in the September 7th, 2022 edition of the Teton Valley News.