Zero Suicide Institute at EDC

Challenge

Suicide is the 10th leading cause of death in the U.S. In 2018, over 47,000 people died by suicide. Research indicates that 84% of these people saw a health care provider in the year before their death; almost 40% visited an emergency department but did not receive a mental health diagnosis; and 19% contacted a mental health system in the month before their death.

A core responsibility of health care systems should be high-quality, evidence-based treatment that ensures the safety of those at risk of suicide. Zero Suicide aims to prevent suicide for patients under care. It includes the Zero Suicide Toolkit and a robust framework that transforms health care systems. EDC’s Zero Suicide Institute provides training and consultation to advance the use of Zero Suicide around the world.

Key Activities

Provide tailored consultation to health care systems that are launching or expanding Zero Suicide
Conduct intensive training, including Zero Suicide Academies, to support implementation teams
Offer training for clinicians on conducting risk assessments and using best practices to manage clients’ risk for suicide
Contribute to tools used by health systems to launch and monitor their Zero Suicide efforts
Collaborate with key suicide prevention stakeholders to advance implementation of Zero Suicide

Impact

As of early 2020, 38 Zero Suicide Academies have taken place nationwide, with approximately 1,520 attendees from 516 health care systems.
As of early 2020, more than 70,000 health and behavioral health professionals have completed Assessing and Managing Suicide Risk (AMSR) training.