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Aboriginal conference report: Lifting the silence on suicide
URL: http://www.suicideinfo.ca/csp/go.aspx?tabid=63
This report outlines the findings and presentations from the Lifting the Silence Conference that took place in Edmonton, Alberta on February 6-7, 2002. The document provides information on understanding the problem of suicide, learning about strategies that work and the questions to ask when developing community approaches.
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Aboriginal youth: A manual of promising suicide prevention strategies
URL: http://www.suicideinfo.ca/csp/go.aspx?tabid=144
Revised edition. Presents a model for understanding suicide among Aboriginal youth and for situating the prevention strategies; presents 17 suicide prevention strategies for Aboriginal youth, and provides examples of existing Aboriginal suicide prevention initiative. This manual is being offered for free and was made possible through funding by the RCMP Aboriginal Policing Services.
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Acting on what we know: Preventing youth suicide in First Nations
URL: http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/fnih-spni/pubs/suicide/prev_youth-jeunes/index_e.html
The purpose of the Advisory Group on Suicide Prevention was to review the existing research and formulate a series of practical, doable recommendations to help stem the tide of youth suicides occurring in First Nations communities across Canada. This report provides an examination of the issues the Group identified, from basic suicide data to specific factors affecting First Nations, and based on this, presents recommendations for action.
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Alcohol and suicide among racial/ethnic populations - 17 States, 2005-2006
URL: http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5823a1.htm
MMWR. June 19, 2009; 58(23):637-41. This report analyzes data from the National Violent Death Reporting System in 2005-2006. The overall prevalence of alcohol intoxication was nearly 24% among suicide decedents tested for alcohol, with the highest percentage among American Indian/Alaska Natives (37%), followed by Hispanics (29%) and persons aged 20-49 years (28%). The authors conclude that many populations can benefit from culturally appropriate suicide-prevention strategies that include efforts to reduce alcohol consumption.
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American Indian and Alaska Native Resource Guide
URL: http://www.nami.org/Content/ContentGroups/MIO/CDResourceManual.pdf
This manual is designed as a tool to help NAMI state offices and affiliates to better understand what is involved in an American Indians and Alaska Natives (AI/AN) outreach campaign and aid in the creation of an outreach plan. Discusses: the need for AI/AN outreach; development of cultural competence; creation of AI/AN outreach plan (NAMI examples); evaluation of efforts; and sharing experience with other NAMIs.
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American Indian life skills development curriculum
Physical Location/Acquisition Information: The curriculum can be ordered at: http://www.wisc.edu/wisconsinpress/books/0129.htm
A course for high school students and some middle school students that is designed to drastically reduce suicidal thinking and behavior. Created in collaboration with students and community members from the Zuni Pueblo and the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, this curriculum addresses key issues in Native American Indian adolescents' lives and teaches such life skills as communication, problem solving, depression and stress management, anger regulation, and goal setting. This program is in the SPRC Evidence-based Practices Registry under the name Zuni Life Skills.
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American Indian suicides in jail: Can risk screening be culturally sensitive?
URL: http://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/207326.pdf
With the help of researchers, the administrator of a jail in a Northern Plains State found out how culture can help identify detainees’ risk for suicide.
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Assessing and planning toolkit for suicide prevention in First Nations communities
URL: http://www.naho.ca/firstnations/english/documents/FNC-SuicidePreventionToolkit-Eng.pdf
This publication has been developed to help individuals and groups interested in addressing the issue of suicide in their communities. It is a framework to guide First Nations in assessing and planning a suicide prevention plan. Communities are encouraged to adapt the tool to meet their own needs. The tool kit also provides information and research on suicide prevention to increase awareness and encourage discussion.
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Assessing suicide and risk behaviors in an incarcerated American Indian population: Investigating culturally sensitive risk assessment instruments and procedures in a border jail
URL: http://www.nicic.org/Library/019845
The overall objective of this research was to address and fill in the gaps in the existing research literature by evaluating a popular suicidal ideation assessment tool, one commonly used within detention centers around the country, for its cultural sensitivity and to modify and, where appropriate, to improve the state, local, and tribal correctional agencies’ ability to more effectively screen for suicide ideation among American Indian detainees. This endeavor involved exploring the connection between American Indian - Northern Plains culture and non-Indian inmates’ responses to suicide screening questions as they are asked within this setting.
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Broken promises: Evaluating the Native American health care system
URL: http://www.usccr.gov/pubs/nahealth/nabroken.pdf
This report discusses the disparities in the health status and outcomes for Native Americans.
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Calling from the rim: Suicidal behavior among American Indian and Alaska Native adolescents
URL: http://aianp.uchsc.edu/ncaianmhr/journal/pdf_files/Mono%204%20Calling%20from%20the%20rim.pdf
In 1990 the National Center for American Indian and Alaska Native Mental Health Research at the University of Colorado called together a group of experts in suicide prevention and Native American issues to examine the current state of research regarding suicide and Native Americans. This monograph includes a series of overviews and position papers prepared for this conference.
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Ensuring the seventh generation: A youth suicide prevention toolkit for tribal child welfare programs
URL: http://www.nicwa.org/YouthSuicidePreventionToolkit/YSPToolkit.pdf
This toolkit is intended for tribal child welfare workers and care providers. It discusses: child and youth suicide risk factors; specific risk factors associated with children served in child welfare; warning signs for caseworkers and care providers to be alert to; suicide prevention and intervention strategies that can be applied in child welfare agencies; and mobilization of support networks around particular children.
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Injury mortality among American Indian and Alaska Native children and youth – United States, 1989—1998.
URL: http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5230a2.htm
Published as: Morbidity and mortality weekly report / Centers for Disease Control. August 1, 2003/ 52(30);697-701. Injuries account for 75% of all deaths among American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) children and youth (1), and AI/ANs have an overall injury-related death rate that is twice the U.S. rate for all racial/ethnic populations (2). However, rate disparities vary by area and by cause. To help focus prevention efforts, CDC analyzed injury mortality data by Indian Health Service (IHS) administrative area and by race/ethnicity. This report summarizes the results of these analyses.
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National Center for American Indian and Alaska Native Mental Health Research
URL: http://aianp.uchsc.edu/ncaianmhr/ncaianmhr_index.htm
The National Center for American Indian and Alaska Native Mental Health Research (NCAIANMHR) is the only program of this type in the country focusing specifically on American Indian and Alaska Native populations. The NCAIANMHR has four major program functions: research, research training, information dissemination, and technical assistance.
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Reported health and health-influencing behaviors among urban American Indians and Alaska Natives
URL: http://www.uihi.org/wp-content/uploads/2008/03/health_health-influencing_behaviors_among_urban_indians.pdf
This report was released at a symposium titled "Through native eyes: Identity, perception and recognition". The report finds additional evidence that American Indians and Alaska Natives living in urban areas face major hurdles in reaching health status similar to their fellow Americans. Findings from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, a national telephone survey conducted yearly and coordinated by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), show American Indians and Alaska Natives living in selected urban areas were more likely to report difficulty accessing health care, had higher rates of risk behavior, and experienced worse health outcomes than the general population. Income differences were shown to play a role in explaining some of the health disparities, but differences in some reported health indicators were not income dependent.
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Restoring balance: Community owned wellness
URL: http://www.sprc.org/library/RestoringBalance.pdf
This manual provides a process for use by American Indian/Alaska Native communities to address wellness, identify their own resources, and use the knowledge and ability of community members to promote change to improve the physical, social, and spiritual environment of the community.
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Services in Native American communities: Summary of the Special Forum held at the 2006 Georgetown University Training Institutes
URL: http://www.mockingbirdsociety.org/files/reference/Mental_Health_and_Foster_Care/Native_American_Services.pdf
Describes basic American Indian issues and service delivery strategies for this population group.
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Suicidality and help-seeking behaviors in American Indian youth
URL: http://www.rtc.pdx.edu/PDF/dt143.pdf
Data Trend #143 May 2007. This fact sheet summarizes research on suicidality and help-seeking behavior in American Indian youth and discusses the importance of culture in determining both outcomes.
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Suicide among American Indians/Alaska Natives
URL: http://www.sprc.org/library/ai.an.facts.pdf
This fact sheet contains data on suicide among the American Indian/Alaska Natives population. The document includes mental health considerations, cultural and ethnic considerations, and strengths and protective factors.
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Tohono O’odham Nation: CMHS Tribal Youth Suicide Prevention Project (Presentation)
URL: http://www.sprc.org/grantees/pdf/2006/Latane_%20Community-basedPrevention.pdf
State/Tribal/Adolescents at Risk Suicide Prevention Grantee Technical Assistance Meeting. December 12–14, 2006, North Bethesda, MD. Describes the project's prevention plan and Tohono O’odham community profile.
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Walking a mile: A first step toward mutual understanding
URL: http://www.publicagenda.org/WalkingaMile/
The research--based on 12 focus groups conducted in 2006 and 2007--explores Indians' perceptions of their own place in contemporary American society and how non-Indians view American Indians, what they know (or think they know), the generalizations they make and stereotypes they hold, how their perceptions were formed and their interest in learning more.
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Walking in beauty on the Red Road: a holistic cultural treatment model for American Indian & Alaska Native adolescents and families
URL: http://www.chestnut.org/LI/downloads/Manuals/Shiprock-Walking_In_Beauty_on_the_Red_Road.pdf
This manual is designed as a foundation for substance abuse treatment programs to develop and replicate residential treatment for American Indian and Alaska Native adolescents. This model was formulated for rural programs that may wish to adapt this model to fit local need.
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Zuni life skills development (SPRC EBPP Fact Sheet)
URL: http://www.sprc.org/featured_resources/bpr/ebpp_PDF/zuni_life_skills.pdf
A fact sheet that describes the Zuni Life Skills Development,aslo called American Indian Life Skills Development, a curriculum that is a culturally tailored intervention that targets high school students. It is based upon social cognitive theory, which proposes that suicidal behavior is affected through the interaction of modeling influences (peer and community), environmental factors, and individual characteristics. Includes a description of the program, evaluation designs and outcomes, the intended audience, and targeted protective and risk factors.
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