DNP 711 - Week 9:

INTRODUCTION/OVERVIEW: Private Sector Influences on Suicide Prevention Efforts in Arizona

For suicide prevention efforts, advancing health policy relies on assistance from the private sector and the influences of their institutions, such as interest groups, and referenced occasionally as "participants without formal government positions" (Kingdon, 2011). The private sector's participation and influence in health policy and care service delivery is neither novel or a passing phenomenon, and the links between the insides and outsides of government are exceedingly challenging to delineate (Kingdon, 2011; De Wolf & Toebes, 2016). Private sector institutional influences often manifest in numerous different ways and often through a multiplicity of various actors or agents, such as service providers, product manufacturers, health management organizations (HMOs), accountable care organizations (ACOs), other small businesses or practice groups, and interest group or professional organizations (Kingdon, 2011; McLaughlin & McLaughlin, 2015; De Wolf & Toebes, 2016). Such a coalitional effort frequently occurs because "citizens with similar common interests form organized 'interest groups' or 'front groups' to secure public policies deemed satisfactory to their goals and objectives" (Stone, 2002; Mason et al., 2012). Moreover, it is arguable that citizens, actors, or agents do not enter into the politics of public life or policy advocacy with their predefined interests but instead that "interests and issues define each other" and find the individuals accordingly (Stone, 2002).

Some the interest groups most critical to defining, scoping, helping, and progressing the efforts of suicide prevention are organizations or associations of multiple individuals, such as the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP), Suicide Prevention Resource Center (SPRC), American Association of Suicidology (AAS), the National Center for the Prevention of Youth Suicide (NCPYS), the National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention (NAASP), Suicide Awareness Voices of Education (SAVE), and the Injury Control Research Center for Suicide Prevention (ICRC-S). Personally, as a member of many of these organizations, I can attest to their efforts to prevent and reduce the occurrence of suicides and its harmful impacts on multiple levels of policymaking and advocacy. Moreover, until the recent and ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, there was attendance scheduled at the annual conference meeting of AAS for whom I serve as an academic per reviewer. Unfortunately, due to COVID-19, the University rescinded all grant-funded travel plans, and the AAS organization canceled the live, in-person event instead opting for a virtual conference held remotely.

The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention

AFSP is a “voluntary health organization that gives those affected by suicide a nationwide community empowered by research, education, and advocacy to take action against this leading cause of death with local chapters in all 50 states as well as programs and events nationwide” (AFSP, 2020). AFSP is dedicated to saving lives and helping those affected by suicide. They create a culture of mental health awareness by funding scientific research, educating the public about mental health and suicide prevention, advocating for public policies in mental health and suicide prevention, and supporting survivors of suicide loss and those affected by suicide in our mission (AFSP, 2020).

The American Association of Suicidology

AAS serves as the national clearinghouse for information on suicide in the U.S. and promotes research, public awareness programs, public education, and training for professionals and volunteers (AAS, 2020). AAS is a not-for-profit organization that encourages and welcomes both individual and organizational members, and also operates the National Center for the Prevention of Youth Suicide (AAS, 2020). The mission statement of AAS is to promote the understanding and prevention of suicide by providing support resources to people who have been affected by it (AAS, 2020). According to AAS (2020), an integral part of accomplishing this mission occurs by directing efforts to advance suicidology as a science through encouraging, developing, and disseminating scholarly work in suicidology. AAS actively promotes research and training in suicidology. AAS also encourages the development and application of strategies that reduce the incidence and prevalence of suicidal behaviors (AAS, 2020). Another focus of AAS is to compile, develop, evaluate, and disseminate accurate information about suicidal behaviors to the public (AAS, 2020). They are fostering the highest possible quality of suicide prevention, intervention, and postvention to the public through the regular publicizing of official AAS positions on issues of public policy relating to suicide.

The National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention

The National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention (Action Alliance) is an influential and productive national level public-private partnership charged with championing suicide prevention as a national priority (NAASP, 2020).

Suicide Awareness Voices of Education

SAVE's foundational belief is that suicide is preventable, and everyone has a role to play in preventing suicide through raising public awareness, educating communities, and equipping every person with the right tools to SAVE lives (SAVE, 2020). SAVE is a national 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization in the U.S. and works at the international, national, state, and local levels to prevent suicide using a public health model in suicide prevention, concentrating its efforts on education and awareness (SAVE, 2020). SAVE's mission is to prevent suicide through public awareness and education, reduce stigma, and serve as a resource to those touched by suicide (SAVE, 2020).

The Injury Control Research Center for Suicide Prevention

The ICRC-S is a collaboration of the University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC) and the Education Development Center (EDC), in which both organizations have extensive experience in addressing suicide and suicide prevention (ICRC-S, 2020). URMC directs the Center for the Study and Prevention of Suicide (CSPS), and EDC operates the national Suicide Prevention Resource Center. The ICRC-S is a center-without-walls that promotes a public health approach to suicide prevention through a collaborative process of research, outreach, and education (ICRC-S, 2020). Our goal is to draw suicide prevention directly into the domain of public health and injury prevention and link it to complementary approaches to mental health (ICRC-S, 2020).

References

American Association of Suicidology. (2020). About AAS. Retrieved from https://suicidology.org/about-aas/

American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. (2020). About AFSP: Mission. Retrieved from https://afsp.org/about-afsp/

De Wolf, A., & Toebes, B. (2016). Assessing private sector involvement in health care and universal health coverage in light of the right to health. Health and Human Rights Journal, 18 (2). Retrieved from https://www.hhrjournal.org/2016/12/assessing-private-sector-involvement-in-health-care-and-universal-health-coverage-in-light-of-the-right-to-health/

Injury Control Research Center for Suicide Prevention. (2020). Who we are. Retrieved from http://suicideprevention-icrc-s.org/who-we-are

Kingdon, J. W. (2011). Agendas, alternatives, and public policies (2nd ed.). Boston, MA: Longman.

Mason, D. J., Leavitt, J. K., & Chaffee, M. W. (2012). Policy and Politics in Nursing and Healthcare-Revised Reprint (6th Ed.). St. Louis, MO: Elsevier Health Sciences/Saunders.

McLaughlin, C. P., & McLaughlin, C. D. (2015). Health Policy Analysis: An Interdisciplinary Approach: An Interdisciplinary Approach (2nd Ed.). Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Publishers.

National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention. (2020). About us: Our story. Retrieved from https://theactionalliance.org/about-us/our-story

Stone, D. A. (2002). Policy paradox: The art of political decision making (3rd Ed.). New York: W. W. Norton & Company.

Suicide Awareness Voices of Education. (2020). Who we are. Retrieved from https://save.org/who-we-are/