A newly published resource guide developed by the AVMA and partner organizations provides strategies and practical actions that veterinary professionals can take to help prevent suicide.
The Suicide Prevention Resource Guide for Veterinary Settings outlines societal, community, relationship, and individual approaches, and can steer veterinary professionals and groups in developing a comprehensive suicide prevention plan.
The guide provides information about suicide risk and protective factors, warning signs, and what organizations and individuals can do to help prevent suicide. It reflects learnings from suicide research and the implementation of evidence-based suicide prevention and response strategies in a variety of academic and workplace settings.
The resource guide was developed by the AVMA, the American Association of Veterinary Medical Colleges, and the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, in collaboration with the National Association of Veterinary Technicians in America, Veterinary Hospital Managers Association, and Veterinary Medical Association Executives.
Suicide is preventable
Despite its complexity, suicide can be prevented. It’s not an inevitable outcome of someone experiencing pain or crisis in their life, and we can take actions to help protect ourselves and others who might be at risk.
The new resource guide joins AVMA’s growing library of wellbeing and suicide prevention resources that are available to everyone in the veterinary profession. Found at avma.org/Wellbeing, these include suicide response guides for veterinary workplaces and colleges, and free suicide prevention training for all veterinary professionals.
The digital CE courses on AVMA Axon also include numerous wellbeing webinars, including several focused specifically on suicide prevention. Among these are a new, two-part series addressing the latest research and perspectives on preventing suicide, and ways our profession can chart a path forward by working together:
Suicide prevention 1: How we communicate matters
Suicide prevention 2: Lives built on hope
By AVMA@Work Editor
Posted October 21, 2022