The plan includes five pillars in which to focus efforts. (file photo/paNOW Staff)

By Derek Cornet

mental health

Province releases prevention plan to address high suicide rate

May 8, 2020 | 4:28 PM

Details of a suicide prevention plan were released by the provincial government this morning.

“Mental health continues to be a high priority for our government, our health system and our communities,” Rural and Remote Health Minister Warren Kaeding stated in a press release. “This plan will guide activities specific to suicide prevention based on Saskatchewan’s context. It was informed by careful consideration of approaches across the country and international best practice.”

The plan itself is called Pillars for Life and includes five areas of focus including specialized supports, training, awareness, means restriction and means safety, and research, surveillance and evaluation. There also a number of goals in place for the plan’s first year in each one of those categories.

For instance, there will be an expansion of mental health first aid across the province, support for specialized skill development opportunities for mental health clinicians and support for the expansion of Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training. There will also be support for the Saskatchewan Health Authority in its efforts to host a range of cultural responsiveness training to ensure the health system is more accommodating to Indigenous and Métis patients and their families.

“As psychiatrists, we have of course been very concerned by the high suicide rate in Saskatchewan,” Dr. Malin Clark of the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Saskatchewan said. “A comprehensive plan that includes not only delivery of enhanced mental health services, but also addresses social factors that contribute to hopelessness and increased suicide risk is necessary as we move forward in efforts to change this statistic.”

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In the first year, there will be a public awareness campaign targeting youth particularly in northern Saskatchewan. Government officials will also build awareness of the suicide prevention work currently underway through the three Roots of Hope initiatives in the province. Roots of Hopes has been established in Buffalo Narrows, La Ronge and Meadow Lake.

Pillars for Life is meant to complements broader activities recommended in Saskatchewan’s Mental Health and Addictions Action Plan. It includes public awareness efforts aimed at northern Indigenous youth, a population with a suicide rate significantly higher than the general youth population.

According to Pillars for Life, approximately 4,000 people across Canada die by suicide each year. In northern Saskatchewan, suicide is the leading cause of death for people aged 10 to 49. Each year, approximately 144 people die in Saskatchewan by suicide.

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derek.cornet@jpbg.ca

Twitter: @saskjourno