Postvention (Aftercare)
By implementing coordinated postvention response efforts, it is expected that community education paired with survivor outreach and support will promote healing and prevent emotional distress, suicidal thoughts and behaviors including the reduction of attempts and deaths.
Postvention response refers to the actions and interventions conducted in the immediate aftermath of a suicide event in addition to the short and long term. A suicide event includes a suicide death, attempt, multiple deaths or attempts, or other crises or traumatic events that significantly impact the individual, family, and community.
What can schools do?
Media and Safe Messaging:
2020 Intentional Self-harm (suicide) Deaths:
Resources:
Suicide Loss Survivors
- Mental Health and Suicide Prevention How to Talk to Children and Youth (PDF)
- Mental Health and Suicide Prevention How to Talk to Children and Youth Spanish (PDF)
- The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention’s (AFSP) Resources for Loss Survivors: A suicide prevention nonprofit organization that provides programs, educates, raises funds for suicide research and programs, and reaches out to those who have lost someone to suicide.
- The Colorado Chapter of the AFSP: AFSP events and resources specific to Colorado.
- The American Association of Suicidology (AAS): Suicide Loss Survivors Webpage: Books and resources for suicide loss survivors.
- The Suicide Prevention Coalition of Colorado (SPCC): This nonprofit’s mission is to reduce suicide and its impact for all Coloradans through advocacy, collaboration, and education. Additionally, the Suicide Prevention Coalition of Colorado provides iCare packages to grieving families at no charge.
- Judi’s House: A free-standing organization in the Metro Denver area devoted solely to providing research-based care to grieving children and their families.
- The Dougy Center: The National Center for Grieving Children and Families: Provides support and resources for children, teens, young adults, and their families grieving a death can share their experiences.
- Uniting for Suicide Postvention (USPV): Provides resources and support for everyone touched by suicide loss.
- Reporting on Suicide: The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is a hotline for individuals in crisis or for those looking to help someone else. To speak with a certified listener, call 1-800-273-8255.
- Language Matters When Talking About Suicide – Mental Health Center of Denver
Schools and Higher Education After a Suicide Death
- The “After a Suicide: A Toolkit for Schools – 2nd Edition” (PDF): A toolkit for schools after a suicide death has occurred.
- The Higher Education Mental Health Alliance’s “Postvention: A Guide for Response to Suicide on College Campuses” (PDF): A guide for college campuses after a suicide death has occurred.
- After a Campus Suicide: A Postvention Guide for Student-Led Responses (PDF): The purpose of this guide by Active Minds is to assist students in leading a campus-wide response in alignment with their campus’s postvention plan or in place of such a plan if none exists.
Workplace after a Suicide Death
- A Manager’s Guide to Suicide Postvention in the Workplace: 10 Action Steps for Dealing with the Aftermath of Suicide. This guide provides workplace leaders with clear action steps for suicide postvention, including immediate, short-term, and long-term responses to help employees.
- A Manager’s Guide to Suicide Postvention in the Workplace provides clear steps for postvention, giving leadership a sense of how to: provide an immediate response to the traumatic event; follow a short-term recovery plan; and develop long-term strategies for helping employees cope.
- Community Mental Health Centers are valuable resources to support postvention at the workplace.
These are the media partners who took the pledge:
The partners will be added soon.