“What excites me most about this project is the opportunity to connect with a range of people in a new way. As a service member, military spouse and mom, clinician, and scientist-educator, it can be difficult to find ways to have conversation across the groups I identify with. I hope this podcast is informative with practical takeaways for everyone.”

Brain Hijack: Science to Practice in Suicide Prevention

Description

This podcast series aims to increase awareness and support a culture shift amongst the general public around the topic of suicide prevention. We will encourage support-seeking behaviors and connectedness through expert interviews, debunking myths, and normalizing topics in mental health. Emerging public health research on media communication channels indicates podcasting as a promising tool to reach communities at large or those uniquely at risk. This podcast intends to bridge the gap between science and practice by translating expert recommendations in suicide prevention and its upstream drivers into a vernacular understood by scientists, non-scientists, military personnel, and civilians.

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Strategic Alignment with National Suicide Prevention Goals

CDC Suicide Prevention Strategies

As it is outlined in the CDC's "Preventing Suicide: A Technical Package of Policy, Programs, and Practices," our project is aligned with the following strategies:

- Strengthen Economic Supports
- Strengthen Access and Delivery of Suicide Care
- Create Protective Environments
- Promote Connectedness
- Teach Coping and Problem-Solving Skills
- Identify and Support People at Risk
- Lessen Harms and Prevent Future Risk

White House Priorities

As it is outlined in The White House "Fact Sheet: New Strategy Outlines Five Priorities for Reducing Military and Veteran Suicide," our project is aligned with the following priorities:

- Improving Lethal Means Safety
- Enhancing Crisis Care and Facilitating Care Transitions
- Increasing Access to and Delivery of Effective Care
- Addressing Upstream Risk and Protective Factors
- Increasing Research Coordination, Data Sharing, & Evaluation Efforts

Selected References

Claire Henderson, Sara Evans-Lacko, and Graham Thornicroft, 2013: Mental Illness Stigma, Help Seeking, and Public Health Programs American Journal of Public Health 103, 777_780,https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2012.301056
Duggan, C., Laird, S. (Hosts). (2020, March 25). Why Podcast? (No. 1) [Audio podcast episode] In Gateway to Health Communication. CDC. https://tools.cdc.gov/medialibrary/index.aspx#/media/id/405606.
Effective Suicide Prevention: Getting Started. Effective Suicide Prevention: Getting Started | Suicide Prevention Resource Center. (n.d.). Retrieved May 26, 2022, from https://www.sprc.org/about-suicide
Langford, L., Litts, D., & Pearson, J. L. (2013). Using science to improve communications about suicide among military and veteran populations: looking for a few good messages. American journal of public health, 103(1), 31–38. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2012.300905

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