Medical Sciences 4300: London-Middlesex Suicide Prevention Council

Authors

Harshith Bhaskar, Western UniversityFollow
Adnan Husein, Western UniversityFollow
Ramin Javaheri-Poya, Western UniversityFollow
Sabrina Jetly, Western UniversityFollow
Christopher Nguyen, Western UniversityFollow
Serena Tejpar, Western UniversityFollow

Document Type

Report

Publication Date

Fall 12-15-2017

Course

Medical Sciences 4300F/G: Addressing Health Care Challenges Using Scientific Inquiry

Community Partner

London-Middlesex Suicide Prevention Council

Description

Suicide is an issue that affects people of all backgrounds, and takes the lives of many individuals every year. The London-Middlesex Suicide Prevention Council (LMSPC), an organization established in 1990, seeks to provide suicide prevention training to members of the community. They seek to engage community members in prevention and intervention by recognizing warning signs that may exist among the London-Middlesex region. The three main programs that strive to deliver these skills are ASIST, ASK, and safeTALK, each with a slightly different focus. LMSPC’s current goal is to increase access to these services through external grants and potential partnerships. Our Community Engaged Learning (CEL) project aimed at creating a repository of grants to allow LMSPC to improve the targeting of their grant applications. Through these grants, the organization will be able to host more classes, and provide training at subsidized prices to increase community access. Additionally, this project worked to produce a series of infographics, which will hopefully increase education on myths regarding suicide, and the available training programs via LMSPC’s social media platforms. Online advocacy provides a point of first contact to potential participants of LMSPC’s three programs, and educates the community on the difficult truths of suicide. Although a lot of progress has been made over the past several months, the fight against suicide is far from over. Going forward, LMSPC will continue to strengthen partnerships, and grow their organization through external grants. Ultimately, this organization’s impacts are incredibly significant and far-reaching as they work to save lives, and make the London-Middlesex region a safer environment.