{"id":249403,"date":"2023-10-10T07:33:00","date_gmt":"2023-10-10T13:33:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.suicideinfo.ca\/?p=249403"},"modified":"2023-12-19T10:47:18","modified_gmt":"2023-12-19T17:47:18","slug":"weekly-news-roundup-sept-30-oct-6-2023","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.suicideinfo.ca\/weekly-news-roundup-sept-30-oct-6-2023\/","title":{"rendered":"Weekly News Roundup Sept. 30 – Oct. 6, 2023"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
Subscribe<\/em><\/a> to receive the weekly news roundup straight to your inbox!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Featured: ‘Alarming’ suicide rates in northern Ontario, Sudbury health unit says<\/a> – CBC<\/em> Montreal-based Sun Life insurance wants industry to review suicide rules<\/a> – CTV News<\/em> Suicide rates increased after extreme drought in the Murray-Darling Basin \u2013 we have to do better as climate change intensifies<\/a> – The Conversation<\/em>
Raising awareness and reducing stigm<\/a>a<\/a> – Business in Calgary<\/em>
October issue
This article highlights the Buddy Up men’s suicide prevention campaign, and how CSV Midstream Solutions (CSV), long-time Buddy Up Champions, collaborated with Centre for Suicide Prevention (CSP)\u00a0 to offer Buddy Up Skills Training to staff. Akash Asif, Strategy & Operations Director at CSP, says “Buddy Up is meant to help raise awareness, reduce the stigma around suicide, encourage behavioural changes and provide opportunities to connect with buddies.” Daniel Clarke, CEO of CSV, says, “It is important for everyone at CSV to have an environment where people not only feel comfortable speaking to one another, but also have the tools and resources to identify and communicate effectively. We consider our support of Buddy Up to be a proactive measure that could save a life and at minimum, encourage a more open and communicative environment.” Buddy Up Skills Training<\/a> offers different levels of suicide prevention training to staff, from a 20 minute suicide awareness webinar to a 2-day suicide intervention workshop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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October 5, 2023
Sudbury, Ontario has suicide rates higher than the provincial average, according to Public Health Sudbury and Districts. Sudbury’s rate is 17.4 per 100,000, while the average in Ontario is 11.4. Erin Ballantyne, a public health nurse on the mental health and substance use team, explains that, since Sudbury is a large area with a sparse population, social isolation and limited access to services such as mental health services, housing, and substance use supports may be factors. Ballantyne also explains, “We also have an increase in health inequities in northern Ontario for specific groups such as our LGBTQ+ community, Indigenous Peoples and newcomers and because of those increased health inequities, those groups can also have an increased risk of poor mental health outcomes and mental health challenges and an increased risk of death by suicide.” Mark Fraser, executive director of Compass and the co-chair of the Suicide Safer Network in Sudbury, says that postvention services are needed, “In the Sudbury area, there is a strong need for post-vention services, meaning when there’s a death by suicide in our community, it causes ripple effect across our community and post-vention services are aimed at addressing that ripple effect.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
October 5, 2023
Jacques Goulet, Sun Life Canada president, is advocating for the insurance industry to relax restrictions around life insurance benefits and deaths by suicide. Industry standard is to refuse to pay benefits when the insured person died by suicide less than two years after signing the life insurance policy, in which case, only premiums would be repaid. “This standard clause sometimes leads to heart-breaking situations,” says Goulet. “We’re working with the industry. It’s complicated for all the players to agree. If things don’t move forward at industry level, we’ll consider whether we’re going it alone or not, but we’d like to do it better within the industry.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
October 4, 2023
A new study<\/a> has explored the correlation between suicide rates and drought in Australia’s Murray-Darling Basin, one of their biggest farming areas. It was found that suicide was strongly associated with extreme drought; in areas where extreme drought was experienced for more than one month in the previous year, there was a 32% increase in monthly suicide rates. Drought, which is predicted to become longer and more extreme with climate change, may affect suicide rates as it can reduce agricultural production, increase financial hardship, degrade the environment, and reduce employment. Study authors say that a multi-faceted approach must be taken to prevent these suicides. One approach including addressing the financial hardship caused by drought, “The relationship between drought and financial hardship seems to be key in farming areas. This points to the need for other forms of income on the farm, including from native vegetation and carbon credits. Work can also be done to promote drought preparedness, increase appropriate regional economic, social development and environmental policies and \u2013 where necessary \u2013 help people leave farming.” Telehealth services and primary health network services, men’s support programs, and drought counselling could also be beneficial.<\/p>\n\n\n\n