Supporting a public health approach to suicide prevention: Recommendations for state infrastructure

The U.S. National Strategy for Suicide Prevention calls for states to identify supportive structures that encourage efficient, effective, and sustainable suicide prevention programming at the state, territorial, tribal, and local levels (HHS & Action Alliance, 2012). To meet this objective, the Suicide Prevention Resource Center (SPRC) completed a literature review and environmental scan, convened an advisory panel of suicide prevention experts, and conducted interviews with suicide prevention and policy experts to identify six essential state-level infrastructure elements: Authorize—Designate a lead organization for suicide prevention in the state and give it the resources to put a state plan into practice. Lead—Maintain a dedicated leadership and core staff positions in order to enact the plan. Create collaboration within state government. Partner—Ensure a state-level public-private partnership with a shared vision for suicide prevention. Examine—Encourage the collection and analysis of high-quality suicide data. Build—Support a multifaceted lifespan approach to suicide prevention across the state. Guide—Build state and local capacity for prevention. In this commentary, we recommend a framework for organizing an emerging evidence base on the infrastructure and systems that are needed to support an effective, sustainable, public health approach to suicide prevention.