Zero Suicide Online Academy Application

ACADEMY

Hosted by: The Missouri Department of Mental Health in partnership with the Missouri Coalition for Community Behavioral Healthcare

DATES

August 26 & 27, 2020

LOCATION

Virtual Academy - Online

SPONSORING ORGANIZATION EMAIL

Stacey.williams@dmh.mo.gov 

ACADEMY DESCRIPTION

The Zero Suicide Academy is a two-day training for senior leaders of health and behavioral health care organizations that seek to dramatically reduce suicides among patients in their care. Using the Zero Suicide framework, participants learn how to incorporate best and promising practices into their organizations and processes to improve care and safety for individuals at risk. Zero Suicide faculty provide both interactive presentations and small group sessions, collaborating with participants to develop organization-specific action plans.

The objectives of the Zero Suicide Academy are to:

» Provide organizations interested in adopting a Zero Suicide approach with the skills and information necessary to launch their effort;

» Create collaborative links between the organizations launching these initiatives in order to provide mentorship and support so that the perspectives, knowledge, and skills of each inform the work of the others; and

» Aid in developing implementation plans for the Zero Suicide initiatives at each participating organization.

The Zero Suicide Academy is presented by Zero Suicide Institute, a project of Education Development Center.

ABOUT ZERO SUICIDE

Zero Suicide is a key concept of the 2012 National Strategy for Suicide Prevention (NSSP). The NSSP calls for suicide prevention to be a core component of health care services and for the implementation of effective clinical and professional practices for assessing and treating those at risk for suicide. Objective 8.1 specifically promotes the adoption of “zero suicides” as an aspirational goal by health care and community support systems that provide services and support to defined patient populations.

Zero Suicide is a priority of the National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention (Action Alliance). The Action Alliance is the public-private partnership advancing the NSSP by championing suicide prevention as a national priority, catalyzing efforts to implement high-priority objectives of the NSSP, and cultivating the resources needed to sustain progress. Zero Suicide builds on the momentum of the 2011 report released by the Action Alliance’s Clinical Care and Intervention Task Force, Suicide Care in Systems Framework.

ZERO SUICIDE FRAMEWORK

The Zero Suicide framework aims to improve care and outcomes for individuals at risk of suicide seen in health care systems. To assist health and behavioral health care organizations in developing and implementing a Zero Suicide approach, www.zerosuicide.sprc.org offers an evolving online Toolkit.

Zero Suicide is a comprehensive approach, which includes the following elements:

1.    Lead system-wide culture change committed to reducing suicides

2.    Train a competent, confident, and caring workforce

3.    Identify individuals with suicide risk via comprehensive screening and assessment

4.    Engage all individuals at-risk of suicide using a suicide care management plan

5.    Treat suicidal thoughts and behaviors using evidence-based treatments

6.    Transition individuals through care with warm hand-offs and supportive contacts

7.    Improve policies and procedures through continuous quality improvement

PARTICIPANT ELIGIBILITY

Applicants are to attend the Zero Suicide Academy with a team of 4 individuals including the person identified as the lead for the system's Zero Suicide initiative. Recommendations for team composition include:

Person(s) responsible and with authority for implementation decisions (e.g. Medical Doctor, CIO, ED, BH Director, or IT).

• At least one senior leader/management (irrespective or discipline area).
• At least one person who manages your electronic health records (EHR) system, quality improvement, or risk management.
• At least one person (e.g., case manager, psychologist, social worker, nurse, other) who provides care to patients daily.

APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS

The Zero Suicide Academy application consists of:

1. A letter of commitment written by the organization’s CEO/Senior Executive Leader. The CEO/Senior Executive Leader should review and approve the submission and agree to the strategy proposed.

2. A narrative that, in two to four pages, responds to the following: 

a. Briefly describe the members of your team and the relevant skills, knowledge, and experience they bring to the Zero Suicide Academy.

b. What are your team’s goals for participating in the Zero Suicide Academy™ and what does the team hope to learn during the training?

The lead applicant will receive all correspondence and must be one of the team members.

Note: Zero Suicide Implementation team members should include persons who can both champion Zero Suicide with passion and those who have some power and influence in your system. This can include clinical directors, senior clinical staff with coordination over a certain area or department, information technology, risk management or quality improvement, or person with lived experience.

SELECTION CRITERIA

All organizations wishing to be considered for the Zero Suicide Academy will submit the application by the due date.

ORGANIZATIONAL SELF-STUDY

A Zero Suicide Organizational Self-Study is to be completed by your implementation team members, along with your application. We offer two versions of the Organizational Self-Study: the General Organizational Self-Study and the Inpatient Organizational Self-Study. Organizations can choose to take one or both available Self-Studies. If you would like to review the questions before taking the survey, we offer a PDF of each version of the Self-Study. To access these resources, you will need to create an account on the Zero Suicide website.

The Organizational Self-Study is to be completed no later than August 26th, 2020.

DEADLINE

Application materials should be submitted via the Zero Suicide Institute website by Friday, August 14th, 2020 at 4:00 pm CT. Applications will be accepted on a first-come, first-serve basis. You will be notified via email by August 10, 2020 about your application status.

TIMELINE

Application released 07/17/2020

Applications accepted until 08/12/2020

Zero Suicide Academy Conducted Pre-Academy Webinar: 24th August, 2020, 12p-1p CT

Academy: 26th & 27th August 2020

CONTACT

info@zerosuicideinstitute.com

Stacey Williams, Missouri Department of Mental Health, Stacey.williams@dmb.mo.gov