Suicide Prevention

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Concept Overview:

Data in 2018 by the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention shows that Maine has a higher suicide rate than the nation’s average: 15.74 per 1000,000 in Maine vs 13.43 nationally. A survey by the Maine Shared Community Health Needs in 2016 exhibited alarming data of the mental health of high school students in York County. It indicated that 27% of the students felt sadness/hopelessness for more than 2 weeks, also higher than the national average. This is serious because during those 2 weeks or more the students might have attempted suicide, been hospitalized & then released. Research shows that follow-up care within the 72 hours after a person is released from a hospital is most crucial in preventing suicide attempts again. These 72 hours & the 6 months thereafter will be the target of our follow-up care program. We will use computer programming knowledge, web design & research skills to create a feasible Follow-up Care website embedded with 2 apps to prevent suicide and save lives.

Activities:

Our goal is to use digital technology to effectively help people fight against suicide. Prior to the project, students will go on field trips, talk with school psychologists, consult with doctors in a local psychiatric hospital, meet with suicide attempt survivors and call the Suicide Lifeline staff. The information collected will be first-hand & crucial in helping the students decide the focus for the website & the features of the apps. The website will provide people in general with information about follow-up care, e.g. steps to take after a patient is released from an emergency room. Our 1st app will serve as a way for clinical staff to send automated & personalized messages to the discharged patients to check in with them. Our 2nd app will be a chatroom for individualized discussions among 3-5 people grouped by ages, interests, etc., monitored by clinical professionals. The chatroom will be a safe, judgment-free place for them to open up and share their story with people who care.

Community Impact:

Developing the website with effective apps will help decrease the number of suicides or suicide attempts. We anticipate our apps will have a major impact on our community in many ways. For suicide attempt survivors, our apps will connect them and help them feel they aren’t alone in their struggles. It will bring back their hopes so that they feel they will have a bright future in order to play an important role in society. For suicide survivors and our community, our apps will help relieve the pain and financial difficulties caused by suicides. When people take their lives, the death particularly devastates those left behind and affects them for a long time. The death can also financially ruin those families and their local community. According to CDC, the average cost for a suicide in Maine was $1,134,885 per death in 2012 and annual average suicide deaths in Maine is 226. When such a financial burden is lessened, those funds could be freed up to be used for education and health care.