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U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
IHS Zero Suicide Initiative

Zero Suicide Implementation

The IHS held the first Zero Suicide Academy in December 2016. The goal of the Academy was for ten IHS Area sites to implement Zero Suicide within their health systems. Each site works in collaboration with IHS and EDC/SPRC to continue implementation strategies and develop best practices for Indian Country.

Initiative Areas

Implementing the seven elements of Zero Suicide is essential and must be completed in an organized, coordinated, and sustained manner. The Division of Behavioral Health manages the Zero Suicide efforts which involves interrelated training and technical assistance resources:

  • AI/AN Zero Suicide Academy™ – Annual in-person and/or virtual training events that help teams of health system leaders/practitioners learn the foundational principles of the Zero Suicide model ; while helping the teams develop detailed action plans to be implemented following the Academy.
  • Community of Learning (CoL) – An 8-session interactive collaborative that brings together the group of teams that completed a Zero Suicide Academy™ for the purpose of shared learning around implementation challenges and tools, resources, and consultation to address those challenges.
  • Tailored Technical Assistance – Site-specific consultations, visits, and/or other technical guidance for sites that may experience complex challenges while implementing the Zero Suicide model.

Zero Suicide Academy

IHS, in partnership with EDC/SPRC, accepted applications for the 2017 American Indian/Alaska Native Zero Suicide Academy. IHS Federally-operated facilities, Tribally-operated facilities, and Urban Indian organizations were encouraged to apply. The application deadline was May 15, 2017, and accepted applicants were notified by June 15, 2017. Please refer to the Zero Suicide Sites for a list of accepted applicants to the 2017 Cohort.

The Zero Suicide Academy will be held in Albuquerque, New Mexico from September 7 to 9, 2017 and is designed for senior leaders of Indian/Tribal/Urban health and behavioral health care organizations that aim to reduce suicides among patients in their care. Using the Zero Suicide framework, participants will learn how to incorporate best and promising practices into their organizations and processes to improve care and safety for individuals at risk for suicide. Zero Suicide faculty will provide both interactive presentations and small group sessions, and collaborate with participants to develop organization-specific action plans.