Suicide Prevention Tools Receive Media Awards

Two products from EDC’s Suicide Prevention Resource Center (SPRC) have earned awards in an international media competition.

SPRC’s Counseling on Access to Lethal Means (CALM) online course and the Patient Safety Screener (PSS-3): A Brief Tool to Detect Suicide Risk in Acute Care Settings micro-learning video each earned bronze medals in the 2019 Omni Awards. The Omni Awards recognize outstanding achievement in film and video, Web, and mobile media.

The CALM course details how to work with people at risk for suicide—and their families—to reduce access to lethal means, such as medication and firearms. Since it launched in December 2018, approximately 20,000 mental health practitioners, social workers, and violence prevention specialists have completed the course.

“CALM is a must for anyone who works in mental health,” says Jenny Smith, who led the course development. “We have evidence that it changes how mental health professionals discuss lethal means with clients who are suicidal. This can save lives.”

The Patient Safety Screener (PSS-3) micro-learning video is also designed for use by mental health practitioners. SPRC’s Zoe Baptista developed the video, which helps health professionals learn how to use the PSS-3 tool for identifying patients in acute care settings who may be at risk of suicide.

She says that the video has already been watched over 7,000 times.

“PSS-3 is intended to give health care professionals the confidence to screen patients who may be at risk of suicide so that these individuals can receive the specialized care and support they need,” says Baptista. “We hope that this award will bring even more attention to the importance of screening patients to help save lives.”