Supporting Implementation of the National Suicide Prevention Strategy: A Public Mental Health Approach
| Published date | 01 September 2004 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/13619322200400028 |
| Date | 01 September 2004 |
| Pages | 24-27 |
| Author | Fiona Adshead,Susan Hahné,Judy Leibowitz,Linda Seymour |
| Subject Matter | Health & social care |
Focus on…
24 The Mental Health Review Volume 9 Issue 3 September 2004 ©Pavilion Publishing (Brighton) 2004
Supporting Implementation
of the National Suicide Prevention
Strategy: A Public Mental Health Approach
Fiona Adshead1
Deputy Chief Medical Officer
Department of Health
Susan Hahné
Specialist Registrar in Public Health
Camden PCT
Judy Leibowitz
Consultant Clinical Psychologist
Camden PCT
Linda Seymour
Policy & Research Development Manager
mentality
Introduction
Suicide is a devastating event. Its emotional and practical
consequences are felt by family and friends and the many
statutory and voluntary agencies involved in the provision
of health and social care.
Although the rate of suicide in England is not high in
comparison with other countries in the European Union, it
remains a major cause of mortality. Approximately one
person commits suicide every two hours in England. It is
the commonest cause of death in men under 35 and the
main cause of premature death in people with mental
illness. (Department of Health, 2002).
In October 2002, following the launch of the National
Suicide Prevention Strategy, the director of public health at
Camden Primary Care Trust (PCT) commissioned the
mental health promotion charity mentality to work with one
of its public health registrars to undertake a needs
assessment and to contribute to the development of a
public health suicide prevention action plan.
The public health specialty, with its local community
perspective, is well placed to work on improving access to
services and, by analysing suicide trends and patterns, to
provide information for planning targeted local action.
There is also the potential to influence risk and protective
factors for suicide which often operate on a collective level.
Suicide is the outcome of complex interactions
between risk and protective factors. Prevention is
achieved by influencing those determinants that are
modifiable and by ameliorating negative effects. This
paper describes the process and outputs from the Camden
suicide prevention project.
Background
Camden has the highest suicide rate of all English
boroughs – on average 35 suicides per year (Camden
and Islington Health Authority, 2001a) – and there is
evidence that this high rate has been a characteristic of
Camden for more than 50 years (Farmer et al, 1977).
Camden PCT, established in April 2002, was able to
respond to the national suicide prevention strategy
because of developmental work by its predecessor
organisations. For example:
■a mental health promotion strategy implemented
in 2001 had identified deprivation, social
fragmentation and transience as key local risk
factors for suicide (Camden and Islington Health
Authority 2001a)
■the final public health annual report from the
former Camden and Islington Health Authority
(2001b) highlighted the importance of mental
health promotion work with those groups known
to be particularly vulnerable and at risk of suicide.
1Dr Adshead was director of public health at Camden PCT during the life of the project.
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