Showcasing our commitment to best practice and collaboration in the collective goal to prevent suicide, LivingWorks is again sponsoring the annual American Association of Suicidology conference, this year running May 5-10 in Las Vegas.
LivingWorks training programs are built on four decades of research and knowledge translation with safety by design; it was the AAS conference last year where LivingWorks celebrated its 40-year anniversary.
History
LivingWorks’ Executive Vice President of Commercialization and Marketing, Shayne Connell, describes last year’s event as an incredible turning point for the partnership between AAS and LivingWorks.
“It was such a fantastic example of how we celebrated our 40-year anniversary. We recognized Trainers, we connected with our research community and presented the impact we have been able to make over those 40 years.”
AAS was established in 1968, and over our 40-year history LivingWorks has collaborated with the organization in many ways. Former AAS President and LivingWorks’ Executive Vice President of Innovation, Dr. Pete Gutierrez, says AAS was the predominant professional organization for all professions engaged in suicide prevention work for many years.
“The AAS conferences have been consistently important. Early on, it was the one opportunity every year for all of us working in the field to come together and hear about the latest information across all sectors,” says Gutierrez. “Researchers, clinicians, crisis line and crisis center staff, public health professionals. It was one big tent.”
This tent has seemingly expanded over the years, broadening horizons and highlighting the suicide prevention sector on a continually growing stage. After celebrating LivingWorks’ 40th anniversary last year, Connell says this year’s event will focus on the next 40 years.
“What we’re really demonstrating is our commitment to the field by re-investing the resources we have into supporting people to be able to get together and collaborate and learn from each other,” says Connell. “We’re at a conference like AAS to learn, as well. We are always updating our programs and making sure we apply the newest research to our best practice and our own evidence base so we’re always at the cutting edge of suicidology.”
Evidence-based
LivingWorks safeTALK is one of our core suicide prevention skills programs being highlighted at AAS 24. There will be a pre-conference workshop presented by the Nevada Office of Suicide Prevention on Sunday, May 5.
“It’s one thing to talk about our workshop, but it’s a whole other thing to experience it,” says Connell. “When we do a LivingWorks safeTALK workshop at AAS presented by a partner, throughout the rest of the conference this generates conversations about the experience learners had.”
Throughout the conference, LivingWorks will have the opportunity to present two new initiatives, the US Coast Guard Evaluation and the MNBC Project.
US Coast Guard Evaluation
Dr. Gutierrez and Bryan Gibb, LivingWorks’ Director of Suicide Prevention in North America, will be presenting a piece of evaluation data pertaining to LivingWorks ASIST Trainers and the participants in their workshops.
“The Coast Guard’s primary goal was to create an internal group of Trainers who could then provide LivingWorks ASIST and safeTALK training to other Coast Guard members,” says Gutierrez.
The evaluation itself examined if mentored trainers could reach registered trainer status quicker than normal and aimed to see if their trainees exhibited better efficacy of their gained suicide prevention skills. To help facilitate the evaluation, we partnered with the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences.
“It’s a major university and most of their students are active-duty service members. They have a large suicide research lab, who provided the Coast Guard with the evaluation infrastructure support to facilitate the collection of this data.” says Gutierrez.
Ultimately, Gutierrez believes the evaluation has produced very positive results, both in terms of the effectiveness of the Coast Guard’s program as well as outcomes surrounding LivingWorks Trainers.
Métis Nation British Columbia (MNBC) Project
LivingWorks will also be collaborating with Métis Nation British Columbia to present on a unique initiative funded by the Public Health Agency of Canada. The Kaa-wiichihitoyaahk (We Take Care of Each Other): Comprehensive Métis Mental Wellness Community Capacity Building Implementation.
“In the time we have spent collaborating, I have deeply admired LivingWorks’ commitment to striving towards a two-eyed seeing approach that utilizes LivingWorks evidence-based programming and MNBC’s cultural knowledge and teachings. It has been a gift to work with a partner that sees and values Métis culture and recognizes how it can be woven into existing resources to greater promote wellness.”
– Jillian Jones, Director, Mental Health and Harm Reduction, Métis Nation British Columbia
This collaboration infuses a cultural framework which puts Métis knowledge at the core of the project, honouring the wisdom of Métis Elders, community, and culture throughout the process.
“It is evident that there is a dire need within the Métis community to greater support mental health and wellness…” says Dr. Kate Elliott, MNBC Minister of Mental Health and Harm Reduction. “Creating cultural safety/cultural wellness is just one of many steps needed to take place in our aim to create a Network of Safety.”
LivingWorks’ presentation on the US Coast Guard Study and the presentation on our collaboration with the MNBC will take place on Wednesday, May 8.
We hope to see you!
For any LivingWorks Trainers, partners or old friends who are also heading to AAS24 – we look forward to seeing you for a week of shared learning as we keep focus on our collective goal of helping keep communities and workplaces safer from suicide.
To learn more about AAS24 or to register for the conference, head to the AAS24 Registration Information page.
