Organizers of a multi-stakeholder forum held in Sundre last week are confident information gathered from participants will be useful in forming a suicide prevention strategy for the community.
About 85 people attended the “Call To Action” forum at the West Country Centre. Those in attendance included Sundre town officials, Alberta Health representatives, RCMP victim services, teachers, principals, and members of the general public.
The forum was spearheaded by the Greenwood Neighbourhood Place community support organization. There were several suicides in the Sundre area in 2011, including a male high school student.
During the forum, participants gathered in 10 member focus groups to discuss three principal questions:
• What are some of the factors that could contribute to this choice (of suicide)?
• What things would you expect to see in a community that is being proactive in preventing death by suicide?
• What barriers and challenges does Sundre face in becoming a healthier community in terms of suicide prevention?
Each group discussed the questions and provided input that was recorded on large sheets. The sheets were then gathered up and will be used by a recently formed steering committee that will formulate the new strategy.
Although the opening portion of the meeting was public, once the focus groups were in place it was closed to the media so that participants, who included some family members of suicide victims, could speak freely and openly.
Marita Stermann, executive director of Greenwood Neighbourhood Place, says although the specific comments made by participants will not be made public, the comments were far ranging and comprehensive.
“When we were looking at what was recorded by the groups, we noticed that there were way more positive things recorded, listing all the good things we have in the community, compared to the barriers and challenges,” said Stermann.
“That is a great thing to notice and something that is very important. If we have less barriers that means we already have the resources in our community, and now we just need to find a way to bring them to the people who need them.”
The forum also included information sharing on suicide prevention programs and services available from Alberta Health and other organizations.
Forum participant Sundre Mayor Annette Clews said she was pleased with the dialogue and input provided at the meeting.
“I'm really looking forward to see what will come out of this meeting,” she said.
The organizing committee will continue gathering public input until March 22, said Stermann.
“We know that there are other people who have information and views that they would like to share with us,” she said, “so we are working on a followup so that anyone and any organization that would want to provide us with their feedback can do so.”
After March 22, organizers will be preparing the suicide prevention strategy for public release, said Stermann.
