Suicide Prevention

Research

• Research on Suicide and its Prevention: What the Current Evidence Reveals and Topics for Future Research
  A literature summary aimed at building a shared Canadian research agenda on suicide and its prevention. Part of an ongoing initiative co-led by the MHCC and the PHAC.
• Post-Attempt Followup and Regular Contact Interventions – Evidence Brief on Suicide Care
  A summary of current evidence and best practices as it relates to post-discharge followup after a suicide attempt.
• The Crossroads of Opioid Use and Suicide: Let’s Meet People Where They Need Us
  Opioid use and suicide share many of the same risk factors and the same protective factors, addressing these factors can help prevent suicides and reduce the harms of opioid use.
• COVID-19 and Suicide: Potential Implications and Opportunities to Influence Trends in Canada – Policy Brief
  A summary of current evidence as it relates to the potential impact of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on mental health and suicide rates (including suicidal ideation, attempts, and death), risk and protective factors to monitor, and opportunities to influence trends in Canada.
• Talking to Children About a Suicide
  A conversation tool to help caregivers, parents, and guardians understand how to speak with children in their lives suicide when a suicide happens in the community or if someone they know has died by suicide.
• Experiences with Suicide: African, Caribbean, and Black Communities in Canada 
  Approximately 4,500 deaths by suicide occur in Canada every year. Data exist to explain differences between sexes and age groups regarding suicide patterns; however, our understanding of the specific experiences of diverse groups is lacking. Consequently, our knowledge of factors that impact risk of suicide and, in turn, effective suicide prevention approaches in African, Caribbean and Black (ACB) communities is limited. To improve our understanding of the experiences of ACB communities with suicide, this resource was co-created by the Mental Health Commission of Canada alongside a diverse group of people from ACB communities with lived and living experience (PWLLE) with suicide.
• Considerations for Implementing a Three-Digit Suicide Prevention Number in Canada
  This policy brief outlines considerations for implementing a three-digit suicide prevention number in Canada. It reviews several relevant international contexts; specifically, the implementation of a three-digit suicide prevention and mental health crisis hotline (988) in the United States (U.S.) and the recently approved 113 number in the Netherlands. The brief is based on the survey, informal interviews, and a scan of academic and grey literature. The considerations it explores include the accessibility and visibility of the service, the capacity of crisis centres, training and staffing standardization, funding and operating costs, and the three-digit number selection.