Supporting local areas in suicide prevention
Public Health Scotland helps local areas develop and implement plans to prevent suicide. It does this by creating national guidance and local planning toolkits, connecting people working on suicide prevention, and supporting and sharing the learning from local projects. PHS also plays a key role in connecting national and local workstreams.
Local suicide prevention planning and implementation toolkit
Public Health Scotland, together with COSLA, has developed guidance to support local areas in developing local suicide prevention action plans.
This includes:
- information on governance and collaboration
- needs assessments
- data evidence and intelligence
- outcomes
- monitoring and evaluation
- involving people with living and lived experiences
You can find more details on the Local Area Suicide Prevention Action Plan Guidance | COSLA website
Support for suicide prevention coordinators and leads
We facilitate a monthly opportunity for peer networking for those working in a leadership or coordination role locally. This provides an opportunity for Suicide Prevention Leads to connect to national work and learn from work across other areas in Scotland.
We have developed an induction pack for new Suicide Prevention Coordinators/Leads, which provides an overview of the role and key information.
View the Induction pack for Suicide Prevention Leads
Specific examples of local support
We also support local areas in several other ways depending on their need and potential for wider learning for those working in suicide prevention in Scotland. PHS hosts three Suicide Prevention Implementation Leads that provide regular input to local suicide prevention steering group meetings, connect one-to-one with local suicide prevention coordinators/leads and support local projects or activities.
Examples of specific support for local area suicide prevention activities include:
- Supporting local suicide prevention action planning – Co-hosting engagement events, suggesting approaches to action plan development and providing feedback on action plans
- Providing learning events on topics identified by the network of local Suicide Prevention Leads - Sessions have covered topics such as measuring impact, media and communications, and using data and intelligence
- Utilising existing guidance documents and supporting local implementation – Including supporting a regional approach to addressing locations of concern and providing peer learning sessions for local areas experiencing suicide clusters
- Identifying emerging needs whilst evolving and testing solutions – PHS has developed a suicide response workshop based on emergency planning methodology
This will support local areas in identifying improvement actions and be more prepared to respond to suicides.