guiding the way to suicide awareness, and support...2 platinum level – $45,000 silver level –...

Canadian Association for Suicide PreventionAssociation canadienne pour la prévention du suicide

CASPACPS

2018 National Conference | Canadian Association for Suicide Prevention

GUIDING THE WAY TO SUICIDE AWARENESS, EDUCATION AND SUPPORT

ST. JOHN’S, NL OCTOBER 31

- NOVEMBER 22018

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Platinum Level – $45,000

Silver Level – $10,000 – $24,999

Friend Level – $1,000 – $4,999

Thank You To Our Sponsors

Department of Health and Community ServicesHealth and Community Services

Health Safety Compensation

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Program at a GlanceWednesday, October 31, 2018

4:30 PM-7:30 PM Registration Main Lobby6:30 PM-10:00 PM Meet & Greet Court Garden

Day 1 – Thursday, November 1, 20188:30 AM-9:00 AM Welcoming Remarks Fort William Ballroom9:00 AM-10:15 AM KEYNOTE - Dr. Brian Mishara Fort William Ballroom10:15 AM-10:30 AM BREAK Pre-function Area

A & B10:30 AM-12:00 PM Concurrent Sessions Breakout Rooms12:00 PM-1:00 PM LUNCH Pre-function Area

A & B12:00 PM-1:00 PM Canadian Association for Suicide Prevention

Annual General MeetingGarrison Room

1:00 PM-2:30 PM Concurrent Sessions Breakout Rooms2:30 PM-2:45 PM BREAK Pre-function Area

A & B2:45 PM -3:45 PM Concurrent Sessions Breakout Rooms3:45 PM-4:00 PM BREAK (without coffee) Pre-function Area

A & B4:00 PM-5:15 PM KEYNOTE - Chief Eugene Hart Fort William Ballroom5:15 PM–5:30 PM Closing Remarks Fort William Ballroom7:30 PM–11:30 PM GALA-NL Kitchen Party/Silent Auction Fort William Ballroom

Day 2 – Friday, November 2, 20188:30 AM- 8:45 AM Opening Remarks Fort William Ballroom8:45 AM-10:00 AM KEYNOTE - Dr. Simon Hatcher Fort William Ballroom10:00 AM-10:15 AM BREAK (Poster Sessions) Pre-function Area

A & B10:15 AM-11:45 AM Concurrent Sessions Breakout Rooms

11:45 AM-1:00 PM LUNCH Pre-function Area A & B

11:45 AM-1:00 PM People With Lived Experience Event Court Garden1:00 PM-2:30 PM Concurrent Sessions Breakout Rooms2:30 PM-2:45 PM BREAK Pre-function Area

A & B2:45 PM-3:45 PM Concurrent Sessions Breakout Rooms3:45 PM-4:00 PM BREAK (without coffee) Pre-function Area

A & B4:00 PM-5:15 PM KEYNOTE - Sister Elizabeth Davis Fort William Ballroom5:15 PM- 5:30 PM Conference Concluding Remarks Fort William Ballroom

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Notes

Important Notes for All Delegates It is expected that the next few days may be emotional and you are reminded that counselors are available throughout the conference. The Amherst room, designated as the quiet room, is available on the 6th floor.

Important Notes for Presenters If you are a presenter and have a digital presentation, please ensure it is ON A USB STICK, WITH YOUR PRESENTATION NUMBER AND dropped off to the registration desk when you regis-ter. Unless you have indicated otherwise, media are welcome to, and may attend any sessions.

CommitteesOrganizing Committee

Courtney Benoit, Julie-Kathleen Campbell, Dan Goodyear, Rod Harris, Karen Letofsky, Cindy Murphy and Karla Thorpe

Planning Committee

Laura Cowan, Tina Davies, Carmel Ennis Smith, Dan Goodyear, Rod Harris, and Cindy Murphy, Karen Leftofsky and Julie-Kathleen Campbell

Program Committee

Yvonne Bergmans, Chair Julie-Kathleen Campbell, Tina Davis, Carmel Ennis Smith, Olivier Ferlatte, Dan Goodyear, Karen Letofsky, Cindy Murphy, Laura Newman, Nathaniel Pollock and Rebecca Sanford

Logistic and Social Committee

Joan Butler, Julie-Kathleen Campbell, Laura Cowan, Carmel Ennis Smith, Dan Goodyear, Rod Harris, Ashlee Mulligan, Cindy Murphy and Nancy Salsman

@CASP_CAHelp share the news of the CASP Conference:

www.facebook.com/canadianassociation-forsuicideprevention/

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Table of Contents

St John’s harbour seen from Cabot Tower on Signal Hill. Photo by Brett Hodnett (Flickr)

Welcome to the Conference ......................................................6

Schedule of Events ..................................................................11

Keynote Speakers ...................................................................18

Presenters Biographies ...........................................................20

Presentation Descriptions ......................................................30

Floorplans ...............................................................................52

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It is my pleasure to welcome you to Newfoundland and Labrador for Signals of Hope, the Canadian Association for Suicide Prevention biennial conference. Our government is pleased to support this conference because it will provide delegates the opportunity to share successes and learn from one another’s experiences. We all have a role to play and that is why working together in partnership is so crucial. Towards Recovery: the Mental Health and Addictions Action Plan for Newfoundland and Labrador is a collaborative plan that brings together people and families with lived experience, all levels of government, grassroots community partners, and healthcare providers. It is a person-centered, community-delivered approach to providing more access to services and supports when and where they are needed. Launched one year ago, this plan is enhancing access to mental health and addictions care for Newfoundlanders and Labradorians throughout the province. For example, Roots of Hope is the first community suicide prevention project of its kind in Canada and is the result of a partnership between the Provincial Government, the Mental Health Commission of Canada, Eastern Health, and the Burin Peninsula Community Coalition for Mental Health and Wellness. It draws heavily on community expertise and guidance from mental health experts in the province, as well as from across the country to reduce the impacts of suicide. Our government is also developing a Life Promotion and Suicide Prevention Action Plan that will strengthen our approach to early intervention and care to help prevent suicide. We all share the common goal of identifying the steps we can take to help save lives. Signals of Hope is an opportunity to discover new ways we can accomplish that goal together. I am confident you will enjoy an educational and highly productive conference. Thank you.

gov.nl.ca

MESSAGE FROM THE PREMIER

Hon. Dwight BallPremier

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Welcome to the 2018 CASP Conference!On behalf of the Canadian Association for Suicide Prevention (CASP), I would like to extend a warm welcome to all of the conference participants joining us in beautiful St. John’s for our annual national suicide prevention conference. This event has a strong tradition of bringing together multiple, diverse stakeholders who are committed to working together to reduce the impact of suicide and support life promotion. This year’s conference, “Signals of Hope”, will provide the opportunity to learn, share, network and question. We invite you to take the opportunity to seek out new information and to engage in dialogue with as many of the other attendees as possible. The Pro-gram Committee has done an outstanding job of building a rich and comprehensive schedule of speakers, workshops and other types of presentations.

In the spirit of partnership and fellowship, CASP would like to thank our hosting organizations, the John Howard Society of Newfound-land-and-Labrador and the Canadian Mental Health Association, Newfoundland-and-Labrador Division. This conference is only pos-sible because of their commitment and hard work during this past year in coordinating local arrangements with regional and national foci. We are all looking forward to enjoying the world famous New-foundlander hospitality, while we squeeze in time for exploring during a packed agenda.

CASP would also like to express its appreciation to all of the pre-senters, attendees, sponsors and volunteers who have come togeth-er to ensure not only the success of this conference but also the recognition that, by working together, we can make a difference.

Let’s talk….and, listen!

Karen Letofsky, C.M.President, CASP

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Bienvenue au congrès 2018 de l’ACPS!Au nom de l’Association canadienne pour la prévention du suicide (l’AC-SP), je souhaite la bienvenue à tous les délégués à notre congrès national annuel sur la prévention du suicide, ici cette année à St. John’s. Cet événe-ment a une forte tradition rassembleuse de multiples et diverses acteurs travaillant ensemble à réduire l’impact du suicide et promouvoir la vie. Le congrès de cette année, sous la bannière « Les phares de l’espoir », vous offrira l’occasion de vous renseigner, d’échanger, de créer des liens et de questionner. Nous vous invitons à prendre le temps d’aller à la recherche de nouvelles informations et de vous présenter à un maximum des autres délégués. Le comité de la programmation a fait un excellent travail d’or-ganisation de l’horaire, riche en conférences, ateliers et autres types de présentations.

Dans un esprit de partenariat et de fraternité, l’ACPS aimerait remercier les organismes co-hôtes du congrès, la Société John Howard de Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador et l’Association canadienne pour la santé mentale à Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador. Ce congrès n’aurait été possible sans leur engagement et leur important travail au cours de la dernière année, dont la coordina-tion des éléments logistiques autantrégionales que nationales. Nous avons tous hâte de vivre cette légendaire hospitalité terreveuvienne et de trouver quelques moments d’exploration parmi notre ordre du jour bien rempli.

L’ACPS souhaite aussi souligner sa gratitude envers tous les conférenciers, délégués, partenaires et bénévoles qui ensemble assurent non seulement le succès de notre congrès mais aussi le rayonnement du message qu’unis, nous pouvons faire une différence.

Jasons-en, et écoutons-nous les uns les autres!

Karen Letofsky, C.M.Présidente, ACPS

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Welcome

Welcome to the 2018 National Suicide Prevention Conference!

The central mission of the conference is to enhance understanding of suicide and suicide prevention and motivate communities to take ac-tion on a local level through partnerships and open dialogue. The con-ference will mobilize any and all individuals who share a common in-terest in promoting life and preventing suicide. As conference co-hosts and suicide prevention stakeholders, we are honoured to help organize and bring our organization’s perspectives to this large forum of diverse voices.

In partnership with CASP, we have an outstanding conference program planned with a variety of speakers, panels, roundtables, and other pre-sentation formats. The conference is an excellent opportunity to learn from, network, and engage in dialogue with leaders and stakeholders in suicide prevention from across Canada.

Hope and connectedness are central to reducing the impact of suicide in our communities. You will have noticed the Signals of Hope message and the picture of Cabot Tower on Signal Hill that is featured promi-nently in the conference promotion and materials. As the site of the first Transatlantic wireless communication signal, Signal Hill represents the importance of reaching out, even across great distances, and the hope for meaningful connection against all odds. This message will no doubt resonate deeply with anyone with interest and experience in suicide prevention, intervention, loss, and supporting survivors.

We hope that while you are here you take some time to experience St. John’s and explore Signal Hill and all the local cultural, historical, and natural attractions, and everything else this city and the surrounding area has to offer.

Above all, we hope that you leave the conference informed and inspired by the work being done here in Newfoundland and Labrador, and across Canada, and that you are able to make strong new connections and take away new ideas to guide and support you moving forward.

We look forward to meeting you!

Cindy Murphy, Executive Director - John Howard Society of NL

Dan Goodyear, CEO – Canadian Mental Health Association, NL Division (CMHA-NL)

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Bienvenue!

Bienvenue à l’édition 2018 du Congrès national annuel pour la prévention du suicide!

Le congrès a pour mission principale d’améliorer notre compréhension du suicide et de sa prévention, et de motiver les communautés à agir localement en développant des partenariats et par une ouverture au dialogue. La conférence mobilisera ceux et celles qui partagent un in-térêt pour la promotion de la vie et la prévention du suicide. En tant que co-hôtes du congrès et qu’acteurs du domaine, c’est un honneur de contribuer à l’organisation de cet événement, et d’ajouter notre voix à la diversité présente au sein de ce rassemblement.

De pair avec l’ACPS, nous avons préparé un horaire impressionnant composé de présentations, de conférences et de table-rondes, parmi d’autres formats. Vous découvrirez que ce congrès constitue une excellente occasion d’apprendre, de créer des liens et d’échanger avec les lead-ers de notre domaine et avec les acteurs importants en prévention du suicide de partout au Canada.

L’espoir et la connexion sont au centre de la réduction de l’impact qu’a le suicide dans nos communautés. Vous aurez peut-être remarqué le thème de cette édition, « Les phares de l’es-poir », ou encore l’image de la Tour Cabot sur Signal Hill qui figure aux matériaux d’informa-tion et de promotion. La Tour symbolise l’importance de tendre l’antenne, puisqu’il s’agit de l’endroit où fût reçue la première transmission sans fil. Envers et contre tout, il faut rayonner au loin, franchir de grandes distances et surtout garder espoir d’y nouer des liens pleins de sens. Ce message résonera profondément avec quiconque ayant vécu une expérience ou ayant un intérêt pour la prévention du suicide, pour l’intervention ou pour le soutien aux endeuillis par suicide.

Nous souhaitons que vous prendrez un moment pour découvrir notre ville, St. John’s, et pour explorer le site de Signal Hill et nos lieux culturels, historiques et naturels, parmi tout ce qu’a à offrir notre capitale et ses environs.

D’bord, nous espérons que vous repartirez pleins d’informations, d’inspiration et de nouvelles idées après avoir constaté tout le travail que nous accomplissons ici à Terre-Neuve-et-Lab-rador, et ailleurs au pays, et que vous tisserez de nouveaux liens serrés qui vous aideront à forger de l’avant.

Nous avons hâte de vous rencontrer!

Cindy Murphy, Directrice exécutive Société John Howard de Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador

Dan Goodyear, PDG Association canadienne pour la santé mentale, division de Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador

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Wednesday October 31, 2018

4:30 to 7:30 (TBC) Registration Location: Main Lobby

6:30 to 10:00 (TBC)

Meet & Greet – Location: Court Garden

DAY 1 – Thursday November 1, 2018

8:30 Welcoming Remarks – Karen Letofsky, President CASP, Hon. Dr. John Haggie, Minister of Health and Community Services; Dan Goodyear, CEO Canadian Mental Health Association, NL Branch; Cindy Murphy, Executive Director, John Howard Society of NL.

9:00-10:15 KEYNOTE- Dr. Brian Mishara- Recent Progress and Current Challenges in Suicide Prevention in Canada/Récentes avancées et défis actuels en prévention du suicide au Canada Room: Fort William Ballroom

10:15-10:30 BREAK

10:30-12:00(90min)

Concurrent Session 1-11

Room: Avalon

Paper Presentations: Selected Talks On Suicide Prevention In The Community 270 - Developing a Suicide Prevention Strategy: The Building Blocks of Hope -Pat Doyle, Tayte Willows550 - Community-Based Knowledge Translation and Suicide Pre-vention in an Ontario First Nation Community - Gerald P. McKinley, Leslie McGregor725 - The Canadian Suicide Exposure Study: Understanding the Impact of Suicide in Canada – Dr Rebecca L. Sanford790 - Hatching Best Practices for Patient Engagement in Pa-tient-Oriented Research in Mental Health - Valerie Testa

Concurrent Session 1-12Room: Battery

410 - Workshop - Promoting Life Together Collaborative: Life Pro-motion Through Partnership Building and Engagement - Meghan McKenna, Dr. Ed Connors, Despina Papadoloupos

Concurrent Session 1-13Room: Columbus

330 - Workshop - Hope in Action: A Solution-Focused Approach To Suicide Intervention – Dr. Heather Fisk

Concurrent Session 1-14Room: Garrison

130 - Panel Discussion - Zero Suicide Initiation and Implementa-tion in Southern Ontario - Dr. Sandra Northcott, Katerina Barton, Dr. Yvonne Bergmans, Dr. Shane McInerney

Schedule of events

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10:30-12:00(90min)

Concurrent Session 1-15Room: Signal

610 - Think Tank - Building Community Capacity Through Incorporat-ing Lived Experience And Professional Expertise - Pratik Nair, Sarah Mughal

Concurrent Session 1-16Room: Viking Suite

860 - Round Table - Life Promotion: Reconnecting Back to the Land - Stephanie Zamora, Daman Morissette, Ivana Yellowback

Concurrent Session 1-17Room: Marconi Suite

440 - Panel - Applications of Road to Mental Readiness (R2MR) for CAF, Civilian and Family Contexts - Aubrey Vincent, Jenna Kean, Feroz Chaudhry, Kimberly Primmer

12:00-1:00LUNCH - Location: Pre-Function A&BCanadian Association for Suicide Prevention Annual General Meeting - Location: Garrison Room

1:00-2:30(90 min)

Concurrent Session 1-21

Room: Avalon

Paper Presentations & Art Work: Northern Male Suicide Prevention250 – Paper presentation - Engaging Men and Boys for Life Promo-tion - Kaila de Boer430 – Paper presentation – Lessons learned from Land-based Programming for Suicide Prevention in Young Men and Boys in the Canadian North – Dr Michael Jong740 - Art Work - The Boys of Nunavut (30 min)- Ivy-Lim-Carter, Bar-bara Snelgrove


870 - Panel Discussion - Promoting Life Together: Inspiring Hope, Meaning, Purpose and Belonging - Tara Welsh, Cindy Parsons, Mi-chelle Skinner, Darlene Sexton


370 - Workshop - Facing the Challenge of Running Suicide Bereave-ment Support Group in Regions - Amélie Gauthier


830 - Panel Discussion - Community Empowerment and Collabora-tion in Mental Health and Addictions: Creating Change and Hope on the Burin Peninsula - Evelyn Tilley, Diane Dunphy, Terri Jean Murray, Karen Butler


470 - Workshop – A Narrative & Reflective Approach to Postvention Hope & Healing - Kim Kelly


140 - Workshop - Skills for Safer Living: a Group Intervention – Dr Yvonne Bergmans, Dr Shane McInerney


100 - Workshop - Theory to Practice: Developing Resiliency Training for Emerging Adults – Dr Mike Allegretti

2:30-2:45 BREAK

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2:45-3:45(60 min)

Concurrent Session 1-31Room: Avalon

Paper Presentations: Selected Talks on Suicide and its Prevention Among Youth and Young Adults

170 - Nurturing Student Resiliency at Brandon University – Dr Chris Brown, Michelle Magnusson

260 - Addressing Root Causes of Suicide in Nunatsiavut - Kaila de Boer

480 - Contagion in a Popular Social Network: A Comprehensive Predictive Analysis - Therese E. Kenny


840 - Workshop - Suicide Prevention: How Public Health Builds Suicide-Safer Communities - Julie Turcotte


890 - Workshop - Suicide Prevention: How Public Health Builds Suicide-Safer Communities - Gini Bechard, Stephanie Mather


390- Workshop - What Would Suicide Prevention Look Like Without Risk Assessment (Prediction)? - Dr. Simon Hatcher, Julie Kathleen Campbell


710 - Workshop - Now What? Practical Tools to Promote Meaning Making Among Long-Term Loss Survivors – Dr. Rebecca Sanford


340 - Workshop - Tough Enough To Talk About It - Katherine Gag-non


460 - Workshop - Capacity Building in Rural Communities – Jade Kearley, Paula Sheppard-Thibeau, Tara Welsh

Concurrent Session 1-38Fort William Ball-room

280 - Workshop (French presentation with simultaneous transla-tion) – Preventing Suicide Among Farmers, an Example of Quebec Collabo-ration. - Prévenir le suicide chez les agriculteurs, exemple de col-laboration québécoise – Steve Dubois, Bertrand Gignac, Pierre-Ni-colas Girard

3:45-4:00 BREAK (no coffee)

4:00 -5:15 KEYNOTE – Chief Eugene Hart Room: Fort William Ballroom

5:15 – 5:30 Closing Remarks

EVENING 7:30 – 11:30

GALA – Newfoundland Kitchen Party Room: Fort William BallroomSilent Auction Room: Pre-Function A&B

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DAY 2 – Friday November 2, 2018

8:30 to 8:45 – Opening Remarks – Mayor Danny Breen-St. John’s Newfoundland

8:45-10:00 KEYNOTE- Dr. Simon Hatcher : Suicide Prevention in Canada: The Future / La prévention du suicide au Canada: Le futur Room: Fort William Ballroom

10:00-10:15 BREAK Poster sessions Room: Pre- function A & B

10:15-11:45(90 min)


Paper presentations: Selected Talks on Life Promotion and Suicide Prevention160 - Our Mind Our Health: Life Promoting Workshops in Rural Cen-tral Alberta - Noah Boakye-Yiadom180 - Partnership and Youth Suicide Prevention in Rural Manitoba – Jill Brown600 - Safely Involving Youth Voice in Life Promotion Initiatives – Pratik Nair, Sarah Mughal660 - The Implementation of Suicide Prevention Gatekeeper Train-ing in British Columbia: A Focused Ethnography – Dr Patti Ranahan, Dr Jennifer White


190 - Roundtable - Who Supports the Supporters? Life Promotion for Families – Tianna Butler


720 – Workshop - Sustainable Peer-Led Suicide Bereavement Support Initiatives – Dr Rebecca Sanford


820 – Panel Discussion - Roots of Hope: A Community Suicide Preven-tion Project- Karla Thorpe, Debbra Cyr-Lebel, Cathy Wheaton


630 – Workshop - Therapeutic Writing Techniques in Suicide Postven-tion – Maureen Pollard


950 - Workshop – Suicide Crisis Intervention: Back to Basics – Julie-Kathleen Campbell, Amélie Gauthier, Dr Yvonne Bergmans


290 - Workshop - An Integrated Approach to Mental Health and Ad-dictions - Constable Kristopher Elliott

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DAY 2 – Friday November 2, 2018

8:30 to 8:45 – Opening Remarks – Mayor Danny Breen-St. John’s Newfoundland

8:45-10:00 KEYNOTE- Dr. Simon Hatcher : Suicide Prevention in Canada: The Future / La prévention du suicide au Canada: Le futur Room: Fort William Ballroom

10:00-10:15 BREAK Poster sessions Room: Pre- function A & B

10:15-11:45(90 min)


Paper presentations: Selected Talks on Life Promotion and Suicide Prevention160 - Our Mind Our Health: Life Promoting Workshops in Rural Cen-tral Alberta - Noah Boakye-Yiadom180 - Partnership and Youth Suicide Prevention in Rural Manitoba – Jill Brown600 - Safely Involving Youth Voice in Life Promotion Initiatives – Pratik Nair, Sarah Mughal660 - The Implementation of Suicide Prevention Gatekeeper Train-ing in British Columbia: A Focused Ethnography – Dr Patti Ranahan, Dr Jennifer White


190 - Roundtable - Who Supports the Supporters? Life Promotion for Families – Tianna Butler


720 – Workshop - Sustainable Peer-Led Suicide Bereavement Support Initiatives – Dr Rebecca Sanford


820 – Panel Discussion - Roots of Hope: A Community Suicide Preven-tion Project- Karla Thorpe, Debbra Cyr-Lebel, Cathy Wheaton


630 – Workshop - Therapeutic Writing Techniques in Suicide Postven-tion – Maureen Pollard


950 - Workshop – Suicide Crisis Intervention: Back to Basics – Julie-Kathleen Campbell, Amélie Gauthier, Dr Yvonne Bergmans


290 - Workshop - An Integrated Approach to Mental Health and Ad-dictions - Constable Kristopher Elliott

11:45-1:00

LUNCH - Location: Pre-Function A&BPeople With Lived Experience Event – Location: Court Garden

1:00-2:30(90 min)


Paper Presentations: Selected Talks on Understanding Suicide300 - Who Leaves Suicide Notes – Dr Rahel Eynan650 - Suicide Ideation as an (Unconscious) Wellness Tool - Annette Powell420 - Issues in Assessing Suicide Risk in a Maximum Security Jail - Dr. Giorgio Ilacqua 520 - A Multidimensional Theory of Suicide: A Psychological Autop-sy Corroborative Study - Dr. Antoon A. Leenaars


450 - Workshop - Road to Mental Readiness (R2MR) Programs - Au-brey Vincent, Aubrey Vincent, Feroz Chaudhry, Kimberly Primmer


580 – Roundtable - Developing a Research and Knowledge Transla-tion Agenda on Suicide Prevention - Ashlee Mulligan, Marc-Etienne Joseph, Mitulika Chawla, Heather Bullock


210 - Roundtable - Dialectical Behavioral Therapy Skills and Faith Communities in Suicide Prevention - Rev. Cody Cooper


360 - Workshop - Postvention Activities in a Community Following a Suicide - Julie-Kathleen Campbell, Amélie Gauthier


400 - Think Tank - Rural and Remote Access to Care in Suicide Intervention: How Can We Limit Shame and Stigma’s Influence? - Shannon Hecker


120 - Workshop - Zero Suicide Implementation Lessons Learned: Are You Ready? - Dr. Sandra Northcott, Katerina Barton

2:30-2:45 BREAK Poster Sessions Room: Pre-Function A & B

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2:45-3:45(60 min)


Paper Presentations: Self-Harm and Client Informed Approaches to Intervention700 - Harm-reduction Approach to Self-harm: Thoughts from a Sur-vivor - Russell Rozinskis730 - Suicide Assessment: Awareness of Client Experience Offers Hope for Change - Elaine Santa Mina, Donald Rose, Beth McCay540 - Suicide-Related Presentations to an Inner-City Emergency De-partment (ED): A Retrospective Review Study - Dr. Shane Mclnerney


Workshop & Paper Presentations: Suicide Prevention for Safety Personnel

530 - Workshop (30 min) - Under the Kevlar - Vanessa McHugh

880 - Paper Presentation - Preventing Suicide in Veterans: High-lights from the CAF-VAC Joint Suicide Prevention Strategy - Dr. Alexandra Heber

780 - Paper Presentation - Evaluating a Personalized Approach for the Treatment of Mental Health Disorders in First Responders - Valerie Testa


900 - Workshop - Suicide Prevention when Medical Assistance in Dying is an Option: Should Some Deaths be Accepted or Encouraged Rather Than Being Prevented – Dr. Brian Mishara


850 – Panel - Stories of Survivorship: The Place and Purpose of Stories in Making Sense and Meaning after Suicide Attempt and Suicide Loss- Dr Rebecca Sanford, Benjamin Verboom, Denise J. Killick


200 - Workshop - Wise Practices for Indigenous Youth Life Promo-tion/Suicide Prevention Website – Dr. Ed Connors, Dr. Jennifer White


Paper Presentation With Discussion/Consultation: Use of Data to Understand Suicide

110 - Development of the Canadian Suicide Surveillance Indicator Framework and Infobase - Dr. Melissa Baker

770 - Painting the Picture of Suicides between 2010 and 2014 – What We Could Learn from Coroners Reports – Dr Simon Hatcher


380 - Workshop - Suicide and the “Trust Dilemma”- What Happens When an Individual has Lost Their Ability to Trust and Feel Safe and Yet Still Have Needs to be Met? - Alvin Gillingham, Gerry Dooley

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2:45-3:45(60 min)

Concurrent Ses-sion 1-38Fort William Ball-room

Paper Presentation: Suicide and the InternetFrench presentations with simultaneous translation

240 - The Digital Quebec Suicide Prevention Strategy. La Stra-tégie Numérique Québécoise De Prévention Du Suicide - Jérôme Gaudreault, Louis-Philippe Côté

220 - Who Are The Members of a Darknet Accessible Pro-Suicide Fo-rum? Qui Sont Les Membres De Forums Pro-Suicide Accessible Sur Le Darknet ? Laurent Corthesy-Blondin, Léa Plourde-Léveillé.

3:45-4:00 BREAK

4:00 -5:15 KEYNOTE – SISTER ELIZABETH DAVIS Suicide Prevention – Persons and Communities Grow-ing in Inclusion, Health and Hope. Room: Fort William Ballroom

5:15- 5:30 Conference Concluding Remarks

Poster Sessions:150 - Alexithymia And Suicidality: A Niche Treatment Target Area? - Dr Yvonne Bergmans, Dr Tim Guimond, Clare Lambert

225- Analyse De Contenu Des Publications Liées Aux Darknets Sur Un Forum Pro-Suicide - Laurent Corthésy-Blondin, Louis-Philippe Côté, Carl-Maria Mörch, Léa Plourde Léveillé, Luc Dargis, Dr Brian L. Mishara

230 –Paramedic Suicides In Canada: Ringing the Alarm - Laurent Corthésy-Blondin

490 - Suicide in Rural Regions: Current State of the Evidence - Therese E. Kenny

510- BC First Nations Youth Leading Youth Advisory Committee for Life Promotion (YLYAC-LP) - Shannon Laflamme

750 - Engaging Men to Take Action about their Mental Health - Ivy Lim-Carter, Barbara Snelgrove

760 - The Strength Within: Suicide prevention in Northern BC Indigenous Communities - Tina Strudsholm

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KEYNOTE SPEAKERS

Eugene Hart was born in 1978 and raised in the Innu community of Sheshatshiu in Labra-dor. Many of the health, social, and education programs that are relied upon today were in their

infancy during much of Eugene’s upbringing in the community. It was the experiences from the estab-lishment of these programs that sparked Eugene’s interest in giving back to the community and help-ing others.

Through his work, Eugene has witnessed and ful-ly understands the issues and gaps in education, mental health and addictions care, social services, and other government systems and structures, and their effects on the individuals, families, and com-munity of Sheshatshiu. Eugene has held a variety of key positions in Innu Education, including Guidance Counsellor Assistant and Community School Liai-son, and eventually became the Innu-Vice Principal with the school in Sheshatshiu. He has also worked in management at the Charles J. Treatment Cen-tre and as a community service worker with Child, Youth and Family Services (CYFS).

He is also an advocate on parents’ behalf for re-unification, stressing the need for a greater under-

standing of community and culture when applying these social services programs. This work inspired Eugene to engage the community directly and es-tablish the Voices of our Children Committee in 2004 to work within the community to address and prevent youth suicide.

First elected to the Innu Nation Board in 2012 and re-elected in 2014, Eugene has held leadership roles on the finance committee and on the joint Emish committee between Innu Nation and Vale to identi-fy the issues and concerns with the Impact Benefit Agreement regarding Voisey’s Bay.

Since Eugene’s election as Chief of Sheshatshiu in 2015, he has implemented a strategy to streamline many of the programs provided by Sheshatshiu Innu First Nation. The success Eugene is most proud of is the advocacy work he and his council have been able to accomplish on behalf of the children taken out of the community and put in care. This advocacy has led to a transition program that will allow the children to stay in the community and allow them to stay in touch with their language, culture, and their education.

Eugene is happily married to his wife Valerie and they have been raising their 3 children (one of which is a foster child) with a focus to be proud of their aboriginal heritage while stressing the impor-tance of health and education in their lives.

Eugene Hart

Sister Elizabeth Davis is the leader of the Sisters of Mercy of Newfoundland and Labrador. She has worked in health care administration with responsibil-ity for the provision of mental health services in acute care, chronic care and long term-care. She is also Co-Chair of the Board of The Gathering Place, a community centre providing service to persons who are homeless or without adequate social support.

Sister Elizabeth Davis

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KEYNOTE SPEAKERS

Dr. Simon Hatcher is cur-rently a Full Professor of Psychiatry at The Univer-sity of Ottawa. He moved there from Auckland in May 2012. He trained in psychiatry in the UK and then worked for 18 years in Auckland, New Zealand

as a clinical academic running a Liaison Psychia-try in a general hospital and at The Department of Psychological Medicine at The University of Auck-land. His main research interests include suicide, self-harm, psychotherapies, psychiatry in the gen-eral hospital setting and e-therapies. He has been the principal investigator in several large trials of non-pharmacological interventions in people who present to hospital with intentional self-harm. Cur-rently he is the principal investigator on a cluster

randomized trial of blended therapy for suicidal men in Ontario. This is an attempt to blend togeth-er face to face therapy with technology to create a therapy that is more than the sum of its parts. The research lab he heads Hatching Ideas Hub focuses on clinical trials in underserved populations. He has worked with Maori as partners in research investi-gating belonging and treatment in suicidal Maori. Clinically he works in the downtown homeless shel-ters in Ottawa and the Liaison Psychiatry service at The Ottawa General Hospital. He is the Vice Chair of the Department of Psychiatry.

Outside work he enjoys motorbiking, hiking, kayak-ing, creative writing and restoring bush to its native state.

Email [email protected] https://www.hatchingideashub.comTwitter @HatchingHub or @shatchernz

Professor Simon Hatcher

Brian Mishara is Director of the Centre for Research and Intervention on Suicide, Ethical Issues and End-of-Life Practices (CRISE) and Professor of Psychology at the Université du Québec à Montréal, in Montreal, Canada. He is Vice-chairperson of the Trustees of Befrienders Worldwide, an inter-national organization of helplines. He published seven books in English and five in French, include research on new technologies and suicide pre-vention, the effectiveness of suicide prevention programmes, how chil-dren understand suicide, theories of suicidality, ethical issues, euthanasia and assisted suicide, and evaluations of helpline effectiveness. He was a founder of Suicide Action Montreal, the Montreal suicide prevention cen-tre, a past president of the International Association for Suicide Preven-tion and Canadian Association for Suicide Prevention. He also consults and conducts suicide prevention training internationally.

Brian Mishara

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PRESENTERS

Dr Mike Allegretti has a decade of experience in student support as a clinician, researcher, and manager. His Doctorate in Educational Leadership from Western focused on organizational struc-tures and strategies that contribute to student resilience. He is currently a consultant, running a large-scale project at Conestoga College focused on improving the structures that are used to sup-port student mental wellness.

Dr Melissa Baker is an Epidemiologist with the Cen-tre for Surveillance and Applied Research, Public Health Agency of Canada. Currently, she is monitor-ing suicide and related behaviors at a national lev-el, and exploring the use of innovative surveillance tools to capture the complex combinations of indi-vidual, environmental, socio-cultural and political influences that are difficult to measure and evalu-ate using traditional surveillance approaches.

Katerina Barton is the Leader of Special Projects at St. Joseph’s Health Care London and has been with the organization since 2010. Katerina has worked in pharmacy, teaching, clinical informatics, and has over 8 years of experience in project management. She has been leading the Zero Suicide Initiative at St. Joseph’s since it began in July 2016.

Gini Bechard is the Manager of Clinical and Recov-ery Services at Stella’s Place, and was involved in the adaption of the SFSL program to a young adult space with a team of clinicians and peers. She was also one of the c-facilitators of the group during its initial cycle, and continues to be involved with re-search and funding activities to ensure the group’s sustainability. Gini also developed the clinical pro-gramming model at Stella’s Place, and helped to determine pathways, screening criteria, and other variables which led to the offering of both SFSL and DBT for young adults who experience recurrent sui-cide attempts.

Dr Yvonne Bergmans has led the development, co-ordination, and facilitation of the 20 week Skills for Safer Living/PISA intervention for people with recurrent suicide attempts at the Arthur Sommer Rotenberg Chair in Suicide Studies at St Michael’s Hospital. Yvonne is actively involved in clinical, re-

search and education activities. Yvonne’s primary research focus has been understanding and re-sponding to recurrent suicide attempts.

Noah Boakye-Yiadom is a health promotion facili-tator with Alberta Health Services. He received his Bachelor of Health Sciences (BHSc) degree from University of Western Ontario in 2005, and Master of Public Health (MPH) from Lakehead University in 2010. He provides facilitation, consultation and support service through the development, imple-mentation and evaluation of programs, activities and resources that promotes mental health, pre-vents addiction and suicide to the communities in Lacombe County, Ponoka County and Clearwater County.

Dr. Chris Brown is an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Education and the Faculty of Graduate Studies at Brandon University where he teaches courses in educational psychology, counselling, and special education. As a practicing therapist and educator, Chris is deeply invested in fostering evidence-based mental health and wellness prac-tices in teaching and counselling.

Jill Brown is a registered social worker in Manitoba. She has been involved with the Suicide Prevention Implementation Network for the past 8 years as part of her committee work as a Community Mental Health Worker at the Child and Adolescent Treat-ment Centre in Brandon, MB.

Heather Bullock is currently on academic leave pursuing her PhD in the Health Policy program at McMaster University and is part of the McMaster Health Forum’s Impact Lab. She is on leave from her position as Director of Knowledge Exchange at the CAMH. Heather brings direct experience in developing and facilitating collaborative research agenda setting processes in mental health and ad-dictions.

Karen Butler is a registered nurse and Quality Im-provement Coach with the Primary Health Care Division of the Dept. of Health and Community Services in St. John’s, NL. Through empowerment coaching, and a passion for service redesign and

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excellence, she has facilitated teams to lead trans-formational systems’ change in communities and across the health care continuum.

Tianna Butler is a professional researcher, writer, social activist and educator. Her career has tak-en her across the country and back again, to her home on the west coast of Newfoundland, where she currently is the Western Regional Coordinator of CMHA-NL. A Mi’kmaq woman, and the Vice-Chief of Indian Head First Nation, she advocates for In-digenous rights. She has worked with vulnerable populations for over fifteen years, and uses her lived experience as a single mother of two children, one with challenging complex needs, to guide her practice. For self-care, she spends as much time as possible on the land, and with her animals.

Julie Kathleen Campbell is the founder of the Sui-cide Prevention Centre le Faubourg in the Lauren-tians (Quebec) and was the Executive Director and Clinical Supervisor for over 20 years. She is also a Past President of the Quebec Suicide Prevention Association. She is now a Quebec Clinical Psycholo-gist, a Suicide Prevention Consultant mainly work-ing with the northern Quebec Inuit communities and the Executive Director of CASP.

Feroz Chaudhry began his career as a clinician working with patients addressing trauma and also providing family therapy which naturally transi-tioned into joining the R2MR (Road to Mental Read-iness) development team. Since then he has lead a number of projects and brings a broad develop-ment experience which has seen him work on apps, family focused content, and trade specific applica-tions.

Mitulika Chawla is a policy analyst in the Suicide Prevention Unit of the Public Health Agency of Can-ada. She is public health specialist and a part of the team that led the development of the Federal Framework for Suicide Prevention which was re-leased in 2016, with a current interest in looking at comprehensive community-based approaches to suicide prevention.

Dr. Ed Connors is a psychologist registered in the Province of Ontario. He is of Mohawk and Irish an-cestry and is a band member of Kahnawake Mohawk Territory. He has worked with First Nations commu-nities across Canada since 1982 in both urban and rural centres. His work over this time has included Clinical Director for an Infant Mental Health Centre in the city of Regina and Director for the Sacred Circle, a Suicide Prevention Program developed to serve First Nations communities in Northwestern Ontario. Today his practice incorporates traditional knowledge about healing while also employing his training as a Psychologist.

Rev. Cody Cooper is a passionate and engaged leader and pastor in suicide prevention and inter-vention. Living in La Ronge, Saskatchewan, suicide has had a deep impact professionally, personally, and in community. By working together in educa-tion, skills, and hope Cody looks to be a part of creating suicide-safer communities and places of faith.

Laurent Corthésy-Blondin is a third-year commu-nity psychology student. His research focuses on workplace suicide prevention, including the identi-fication of work-related risk and protective factors as well as the development of workplace-centered prevention strategies. Moreover, he was part of several empirical and literature research projects focusing on suicide prevention using information and communication technology.

Louis-Philippe Côté poursuit actuellement un doc-torat en psychologie communautaire à l’Univer-sité du Québec À Montréal (UQAM) sous la direc-tion du professeur Brian Mishara. Ses intérêts de recherche portent sur l’utilisation des nouvelles technologies en prévention du suicide. Chargé de projet pour l’AQPS, il coordonne actuellement les travaux entourant le développement de la straté-gie numérique québécoise de prévention du sui-cide. / Louis-Philippe is a PhD candidate in commu-nity psychology at Quebec University in Montreal under the direction of Professor Brian Mishara. His research interests are in the use of new technol-ogies in suicide prevention. Project manager for the AQPS, he is currently coordinating the devel-opment of the Quebec digital strategy for suicide prevention.

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Debbra Cyr-Lebel is a licensed psychologist who has been practicing for the past 20 years. She is presently working as a Programs Advisor for the New Brunswick’s Department of Health. Some of her present files include: Addiction and Mental Health –Adult Services, Suicide Prevention, Mobile Crisis Services, Seniors Mental Health, Peer Sup-port Services and Critical Incident Stress Manage-ment.

Pat Doyle works as the Suicide Prevention Coor-dinator with the Canadian Mental Health Associ-ation/PEI Division where she coordinates commu-nity-based suicide prevention, intervention, and postvention efforts that enhance resiliency in Is-land communities. She has been engaged in this work as a trainer, facilitator, program developer and as a policy advocate.

Kaila deBoer has both a Bachelors and Masters de-gree in Social Work (thesis on Responding to Crises in Northern Indigenous Communities) She has been working in mental health services in northern Lab-rador since 2012, first as a Mental Health + Addic-tions Counselor ‎and now as the Director of Mental Wellness and Healing (since 2015). As Director, she oversees our community Mental Health and Ad-dictions Workers, NNADAP funded treatment pro-gram, Youth Programs and Services, and a variety of other program areas, including crisis response, suicide prevention and intervention programs, and reducing suicide risk factors outlined by the Na-tional Inuit Youth Strategy. She has been directly involved in responding to the many suicide deaths‎ in Nunatsiavut and is passionate about upstream approaches to promoting wellbeing for all.

Gerry Dooley is a registered psychiatric nurse with 38 years of experience working in Mental Health as an educator/trainer/consultant. He is a Team Leader in ASIST and safeTALK Programs with Living-works in Calgary, Alberta; conducts workshops on Self Harm/Mutilation, Anxiety-Depression, Stress (C.R.A.PP/Life interrupted) and has been working in the area of Suicide Intervention for 32 years and working with the behavior of Manipulation for 38 years. He is still learning about both.

Steve Dubois, coordonnateur clinique du Centre de prévention du Suicide de Portneuf, un organisme oeuvrant en milieu rural. Il se préoccupe depuis plusieurs années de la prévention du suicide au-près des agriculteurs et a développé des stratégies novatrices et collaborations inhabituelles pour ces groupes de travailleurs. Steve is the Clinical Coor-dinator of the Suicide Prevention Center in Port-neuf, Quebec ; a rural organization. He has been concerned for several years with the prevention of suicide among farmers and has developed innova-tive strategies and unique collaborations for these groups of workers.

Diane Dunphy is team lead for the mental health and addictions service in Marystown, NL. Diane has spent the majority of her 28 years as a Social Work-er helping people achieve wellness through coun-selling.

Constable Kristopher Elliott started policing in 2009. Kristopher has spent the last 5 years work-ing on the Halton COAST team and Halton’s Mobile Crisis Rapid Response Team, working in front line crisis intervention and is an advocate for persons in crisis. Constable Elliott has worked hard in fos-tering relationships in the community and breaking down barriers. Recently Kris began working in the Regional Community Mobilization Unit as the liai-son officer of the newly launched Community Safe-ty Well Being Plan.

Rahel Eynan is a research scientist with the Lawson Health Research Institute at Western University. Rahel has worked at the Suicide Studies Research Unit with the Arthur Sommer Rotenberg Chair in Suicide Studies at St Michael’s Hospital for 14 years. Her current research at Western continues to focus on suicide prevention.

Dr. Carol Fancott is Director at CFHI and leads the Northern and Indigenous Health portfolio which has worked together with the Canadian Northern and Remote Health Network to support the Pro-moting Life Together collaborative. She is a physio-therapist by clinical training, and received an MSc and PhD in health services research from the Uni-versity of Toronto.

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Dr Heather Fiske is a psychologist and an enthu-siastic and experienced solution-focused prac-titioner, trainer and supervisor. She is the author of Hope in Action: Solution-Focused Conversations about Suicide. She has received the CASP Service Award and the Insoo Kim Berg memorial award for contributions to training from the Solution-Fo-cused Brief Therapy Association.

Katherine Gagnon has been a Health Promotion Fa-cilitator with Alberta Health Services for the past 17 years specializing in injury prevention and work-ing as the Chair for the Regional Suicide Prevention Council for East Central Alberta as well as the Pro-vincial Working Group on Suicide Prevention. She has been part of the Tough Enough To Talk About It steering committee since the inception of the pro-gram. She completed the SPARK training through the Mental Health Commission of Canada focusing on stigma and discrimination for persons suffering from mental illness and majored in mental health in her Human Services Counsellor training.

Jérôme Gaudreault est directeur général de l’As-sociation Québécoise de Prévention du Suicide. Sa feuille de route est jalonnée d’expériences profes-sionnelles diversifiées dans les milieux de la santé, de la jeunesse et de l’employabilité. Depuis main-tenant plusieurs années, il interpelle l’ensemble des acteurs de la société québécoise afin que tous et chacun s’engagent en faveur de la prévention du suicide. Jérôme is the Executive Director of the Que-bec Association for the Prevention of Suicide. His track record is punctuated by diverse professional experiences in the health, youth and employability communities. For several years now, his experience has been calling on all players in Quebec society to make everyone commit to suicide prevention.

Amélie Gauthier is a seasoned clinician, accredit-ed trainer and experienced speaker, and has been working in the field of suicide prevention since 1997. With 21 years of experience in working with suicidal people and bereaved by suicide, she first held the position of Clinical Coordinator at the Sui-cide Prevention Center le Faubourg, before being appointed executive director in 2012.

Alvin Gilligham is a social services worker and has been working for 25 years as a Youth Care Coun-sellor with troubled youth in the Youth Corrections field. For the last 20 years, is has been an ASIST Trainer with Livingworks in Calgary, Alberta.

Dr Tim Guimond is a psychiatrist and biostatis-tician whose clinical work focuses on addictions, and his statistical work has been with count data from various fields including self-harm and suicide attempts. He is trained in Bayesian techniques and with missing data approaches.

Dr. Simon Hatcher is currently a full Professor of Psychiatry at The University of Ottawa. He moved there from Auckland in May 2012. He trained in psychiatry in the UK and then worked for 18 years in Auckland, New Zealand as a clinical academic running a Liaison Psychiatry in a general hospital and at The Department of Psychological Medicine at The University of Auckland. His main research interests include suicide, self-harm, psychothera-pies, psychiatry in the general hospital setting and e-therapies. He has been the principal investigator in several large trials of non-pharmacological in-terventions in people who present to hospital with intentional self-harm. Currently he is the principal investigator on a cluster randomized trial of blend-ed therapy for suicidal men in Ontario. This is an attempt to blend together face to face therapy with technology to create a therapy that is more than the sum of its parts. The research lab he heads Hatching Ideas Hub focuses on clinical trials in un-derserved populations. He has worked with Mao-ri as partners in research investigating belonging and treatment in suicidal Maori. Clinically he works in the downtown homeless shelters in Ottawa and the Liaison Psychiatry service at The Ottawa Gen-eral Hospital. He is the Vice Chair of the Depart-ment of Psychiatry.

Dr Henry Harder: is an Indigenous Scholar and is Professor and past Chair of the School of Health Sciences at the University of Northern British Co-lumbia. He currently holds the Dr. Donald B. Rix BC Leadership Chair in Aboriginal Environmental Health. He is a registered psychologist. Dr. Harder has been in the fields of mental health, rehabilita-tion and disability management for over 30 years.

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Dr. Alexandra Heber is Chief Psychiatrist of Veter-ans Affairs Canada (VAC). She has over 30 years’ experience working in mental health, and has pre-sented nationally and internationally on PTSD and suicide prevention in military and civilian popu-lations. She was VAC lead author on the Canadian Armed Forces/Veterans Affairs Canada Joint Sui-cide Prevention Strategy (2017). She is an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, University of Ottawa.

Shannon Heckerm, growing up in the beautiful Shuswap Region shaped Shannon’s openness and curiosity in creating programs to support individ-uals, families and communities. All of Shannon’s work is rooted in the belief that if you create a safe space and the right conditions for people to come together in conversation, especially around the thorny issues of life, they move towards building healthy, meaningful communities. Conversation’s becomes a spark for lasting change. Shannon has extensive experience in working with people in all different settings from the therapeutic to project development to large scale systems change. She has a background in individual, family and group therapeutic work and suicide intervention in both community and school settings, and her Master’s Degree in Conflict Analysis and Management.

Travis Hoyk: Dr. Travis Holyk, Beeskih, is the Exec-utive Director of Research, Primary Care and Stra-tegic Services at Carrier Sekani Family Services, an organization responsible for health and social pro-graming for eleven member First Nations in North central BC. Travis has been a leader in developing and administering innovative health and social programs that continue to have a positive and last-ing effect in First Nations communities.

Dr Giorgio E. Ilacqua is a psychologist specialized in criminal/forensic and rehabilitation. He has been involved in the care of people involved at all stag-es in the justice system: institutions, rehabilitation centres or the community. Risk assessments for this clientele have been the core of his clinical ex-perience since 1991.

Dr Michael Jong is a recently retired rural family physician and full professor at Memorial University based in Labrador. He is continuing with supervis-ing students and residents as a clinical professor.

Marc-Étienne Joseph is a senior policy analyst in the Suicide Prevention Unit of the Public Health Agency of Canada. Marc-Étienne has worked in Fed-eral Government and research environment set-tings for the last 10 years. He worked on research projects related to tobacco use, addiction, and risk behaviors in teens and various areas of infectious diseases prevention and control, and multisectoral scholarships.

Jenna Kean is a Canadian Certified Counsellor work-ing to support family members of those currently serving and retired from the Canadian Armed Forc-es. Jenna’s background in clinical mental health counselling has led to opportunities working with those struggling with mood disorders, suicidal ide-ations, trauma-related issues, brain disorders such as ADHD, and other related mental health concerns.

Jade Kearley, as Interagency Coordinator with Community Mental Health Initiative for nearly 10 years, Jade works in a collaborative manner with staff, volunteers and other agencies to promote mental health through public awareness, educa-tion and the delivery of targeted services. Jade’s dedication to reducing the stigma of mental illness and improving the overall wellness for individuals within her community stems from both personal and professional experience.

Kim Kelly, Since losing her brother Brendan to sui-cide, Kim has supported survivors of suicide loss; and addressed the topic of postvention as a panel member, presenter and guest on local media. Kim co-created postvention supports with Tina Davies (Richards Legacy) including the annual Vigil to Re-member Those Who Died by Suicide and the Noel J Brown Day of Hope and Healing for suicide survi-vors. In 2011, Kim received the Excellence in Leader-ship Award from ASIST NL for her contribution to the healing of those affected by suicide in NL.

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Therese E. Kenny completed her BSc (hons) and MSc at Memorial University of Newfoundland. She is currently a student in the Child and Adolescent Clinical Psychology program at the University of Guelph. Therese’s research interests are varied and include suicide, self-injury, and eating disor-ders among others. She is particularly interested in how individuals conceptualize and understand recovery from mental illness.

Denise J Killick is an actress living in Ottawa, ON. She has been a member of ACTRA (Association of Canadian Radio and Television Artists) for 35 years and is a councilor on the Ottawa ACTRA board. She has been on stage since the tender age of 6 and has performed on multiple different stages in Ottawa. She is also a writer and poet. Some of her works have been published. She first presented her story at a storytelling festival called Trophy in conjunc-tion with the National Arts Centre in 2017 as part of the Canada 150 celebrations. She worked for the federal government, DND and the Privy Council Of-fice as a Library Technician providing reference and research assistance. She loves horses, dogs, cats and coffee, reading spy novels and mending things.

Shannon Laflamme graduated from SFU with a BA in Psychology in 2006 and am currently working to-wards my master’s degree in Public Health through the University of London. I am passionate about the work I do with the Mental Health and Wellness team at FNHA’s central office, stemming from my belief that mental wellness is the basis for overall health and wellness, both in terms of the individual and society as a whole. My personal connection to and experience with youth suicide drives my moti-vation to work towards a more hopeful future for today’s youth - where help is available and acces-sible for youth coping with pain, trauma, and ad-diction, and where healing journeys are supported by the community at large without stigma or judg-ment.

Clare Lambert will graduate from the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland in 2021. Her past research interests have included neurobiology and psychi-atry. She hopes to pursue a career in emergency medicine with a special focus on psychiatric pre-sentations to the emergency room.

Dr Antoon A. Leenaars is a psychologist in private practice in mental health, public health, and foren-sic psychology in Windsor, Canada, and was Senior Advisor at The Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway. He was the first Past President of the Canadian Association for Suicide Prevention (CASP), and a past President of the American Association of Suicidology (AAS), the only non-American. He is author/editor of Psychotherapy with Suicidal Peo-ple, The Psychological Autopsy, and 12 additional books, as well as around 250 articles and chapters. He was the founding Editor-in-Chief of the journal, Archives of Suicide Research. Dr. Leenaars is a re-cipient of the International Association for Suicide Prevention’s Erwin Stengel Award, CASP’s Research Award, and AAS’s Edwin Shneidman Award. He has consulted to the WHO, institutions and govern-ments around the world; and has provided forensic services in cases of wrongful death, suicide, homi-cide-suicide, and homicide for police services, and legal institutions.

Ivy Lim-Carter is currently the Knowledge Manage-ment Director, Mental Health and Suicide Preven-tion for the Movember Foundation. She is respon-sible for the operational implementation of men’s health programs that Movember directly under-takes in Canada, as well as Global Initiatives in Aus-tralia, the UK, and the United States. Ivy has exten-sive experience managing and directing research grant programs at national health charities. Past roles have included Director, National Research Programs for Parkinson Society Canada from 2005 to 2012 and Director of Programs for Brain Canada from 2012 to 2013.

Michelle Magnusson is the Student Accessibili-ty Coordinator at Brandon University where she is involved in initiatives for students and faculty including teaching and research in accessibility, accommodation, and best practices. Michelle is committed to support students in their academic pursuits through provision of accommodations, learning supports and mental health wellness strategies.

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Stephanie Mather is the clinical lead of the SFSL program at Stella’s Place, and she was involved in the adaptation of the SFSL program to a young adult space alongside clinicians and peers. She delivers the group multiple times a year alongside other clinicians and peers, and she continues to incor-porate young adult feedback and experiences into the curriculum for future participants to benefit from. Stephanie is also one of our DBT facilitators, and is a contributor to the thinking of how these two different interventions can continue to have an impact on young adults experiencing recurrent suicide attempts and self-harm behaviours.

Leslie McGregor (Anishinaabek-Whitefish River First Nation) is the Director of Health and Social Services at Whitefish River First Nation. McGregor is an active proponent for the youth in her com-munity.

Vanessa McHugh is a mother, wife and survivor of suicide loss. She has volunteered her time as a board member on CASP for the past year. Vanes-sa has been a Police officer for the past 14 years, with Peel Regional Police. She has spent her ca-reer working in uniform capacity, Youth Education, Cold Case in the Special Victims Unit, the COAST Unit Mental Health Crisis team and currently works within the Community Mobilization Unit. Vanessa is passionate about suicide awareness and changing the culture of mental health stigmas within the Po-licing communities.

Dr. Shane McInerney is an Assistant Professor, Uni-versity of Toronto Department of Psychiatry and Staff Psychiatrist at St. Michael’s Hospital and Uni-versity Health Network (UHN). He is the clinical lead of the Mood Disorders Clinic at St Michael’s Hos-pital where he provides evidenced-based psycho-pharmacological treatment for those with mood disorders and suicidality. He also co- facilitates the Skills for Safer Living/PISA group at St Michael’s Hospital Arthur Sommer Rotenburg (ASR) Program for Suicide and Depression Studies. He is actively involved in research and teaching on the topics of mood disorders and suicidality.

Dr Gerald P. McKinley is an Assistant Professor in the Schulich Interfaculty Program in Public Health at Western University. His research focuses on the social determinants of health as they related to suicide in First Nations communities in Ontario, Canada.

Dr Brian Mishara is Director of the Centre for Re-search and Intervention on Suicide, Ethical Issues and End-of-Life Practices (CRISE) and Professor of Psychology at the Université du Québec à Mon-tréal, in Montreal, Canada. He is Vice-chairper-son of the Trustees of Befrienders Worldwide, an international organization of helplines. He pub-lished seven books in English and five in French, include research on new technologies and suicide prevention, the effectiveness of suicide prevention programmes, how children understand suicide, theories of suicidality, ethical issues, euthanasia and assisted suicide, and evaluations of helpline effectiveness. He was a founder of Suicide Action Montreal, the Montreal suicide prevention centre, a past president of the International Association for Suicide Prevention and Canadian Association for Suicide Prevention. He also consults and con-ducts suicide prevention training internationally.

Daman Morissette is a proud Anishinaabe Métis from Sagkeeng First Nation. Living in Winnipeg, he found his passion and Identity through the game of basketball. A co-creator of “Warriorz Basketball” a travelling all indigenous men’s basketball team, he shares teachings on “basketball is medicine”, healthy living, and community. These experiences helped with the understanding and importance of identity, along with caring for our physical self in relations to our spiritual, emotional, and mental being. As a proud Sundancer, he understands the importance of giving back and also volunteers his time to helping an all-Women’s Sundance to honor the missing and murdered women.

Sarah Mughal is the Director of Programs & Evalu-ation, responsible for overseeing the design, deliv-ery, and evaluation of Jack.org’s programs. I hold a BA in Health Studies from the University of Toronto and a Masters of Public Health focusing on Social Inequities from Simon Fraser University. Before

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Jack.org, I worked in Vancouver and New Orleans in child mental health policy research, youth sex-ual health programming, and high school suicide prevention.

Ashlee Mulligan is a program manager at the Men-tal Health Commission of Canada. In this role, Ash-lee works to promote research, collaboration and knowledge exchange at both a community level in suicide prevention. Ashlee has a Master of Science and has done work in knowledge mobilization, re-search and project management in both the health and mental health sectors.

Terri Jean Murray is a social worker and Quality Improvement Coach with the Primary Health Care Division of the Dept. of Health and Community Ser-vices in St. John’s, NL. She has championed local, regional, and provincial health systems change and Primary Health Care reform. She is passionate about community engagement and seeks to involve people from our local communities in all quality improvement and health system transformation.

Pratik Nair is the Evaluation & Knowledge Trans-lation Lead at Jack.org, he conducts evaluations, analysis, and produces deliverables (reports, pre-sentations) to inform Jack.org programs. Pratik holds a Master of Public Health degree from the University of Toronto and has conducted evalua-tions on programs and policy for children’s televi-sion, health services in Ontario municipalities, and harm reduction services in South America.

Dr. Sandra Northcott is a psychiatrist and the In-terim Site Chief at St. Joseph’s Health Care London. She has been with St. Joseph’s since April 2015. Pri-or to that, she was a consultant psychiatrist with the Prevention and Early Intervention Program in Psychoses (PEPP) at London Health Sciences Cen-tre. She is an associate professor of Psychiatry at the Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry at Western University.

Cindy Parsons is a social worker at the Mental Health and addiction services of Western Health, NL

Kimberly Primmer is currently a member of the cur-riculum development team with the Road to Men-tal Readiness (R2MR) program in the Department of National Defense. She is a registered social work-er with the province of Ontario with more than 14 years of clinical experience working in the mental health field.

Maureen Pollard is a registered social worker for 25 years. Maureen is now in private practice, of-fering individual and group counselling, as well as customized, dynamic learning experiences for cli-ents and for professionals. Areas of focus include traumatic bereavement including suicide loss, par-enting and co-parenting, compassion fatigue and resiliency.

Annette Powell is a Canadian Certified Counsellor with an M.Ed in Counselling Psychology. She has worked in non-profits for nineteen years as an ad-vocate, researcher, educator, and peer supporter. She has lived experience of physical disability and suicide ideation. Annette is a trained meditation guide, practicing meditation and mindfulness for over a decade.

Dr. Patti Ranahan is an Associate Professor in Ap-plied Human Sciences at Concordia University in Montreal, Canada. Her research focuses on ex-amination of youth workers’ experiences of, and responses to, adolescent suicidality, suicide pre-vention education, mental health literacy develop-ment of professionals and its application to child and youth care contexts.

Russell Rozinskis is a Critical Disability Studies PhD student at York University. Diagnosed with complex PTSD, depression, GAD, and Bipolar II, as well as a suicide survivor and struggles around self-harm. He is turning all that lived experienced into re-searching self-harm and suicide, with hopes of pre-venting suicide and self-harm in Canada.

Dr Rebecca L. Sanford is a clinical social worker, researcher, educator, and suicide loss survivor. Re-becca has provided individual and group interven-tions for those who have lost a loved one to suicide, and she is involved in community outreach efforts to promote awareness of suicide. Her research in-

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terests include the suicide bereavement trajectory, disenfranchised grief and ambiguous loss, and the development and dissemination of interventions for the bereaved.

Dr Elaine Santa Mina is Associate Professor in the Daphne Cockwell School of Nursing, Ryerson Uni-versity, Toronto. Her research work in suicide as-sessment builds upon extensive clinical experi-ence in acute mental health settings in Toronto.

Paula Sheppard-Thibeau has a Master of Adult Ed-ucation and twenty years working with marginal-ized individuals. In her role, she is responsible for developing and managing new initiatives as well as enhancing, strengthening and managing existing programs. Paula also advocates for changes where needed. As an educator and ASIST facilitator, she is well versed in life promoting factors, trauma in-formed practices, and community development.

Michelle Skinner is a social worker and a Manager of Mental Health & Addictions Services at Western Health.

Barbara Snelgrove is the Knowledge Manager – Mental Health & Suicide Prevention with the Mo-vember Foundation. She supports the successful scaling, piloting and dissemination of knowledge generated by program investments in men’s men-tal health. Barbara has extensive experience in the health charity sector. She has developed national education programs for a variety of audiences, in-cluding patient-centred resources, online accredit-ed courses for health care providers, and was proj-ect manager on the publication of clinical practice guidelines.

Darlene Sexton is a Cultural Mentor from the Qa-lipu First Nation, NL

Tina Strudsholm: Tina Strudsholm, MSc Population Health, is the research manager for the CIHR fund-ed Strength Within project: Suicide Prevention in Northern BC. As part of the Strength Within proj-ect, Tina has been directly involved with commu-nity engagement, intervention implementation, and evaluation. Tina’s research interests include

the social determinants of health, health research methodologies, mixed methods, and participatory action research.

Valerie Testa is a Clinical Research Program Man-ager at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Clinical Epidemiology Program. She is responsible for fostering and establishing partnerships with research organizations and government sectors at all levels to conduct research in the areas of: digi-tal health technologies; suicide prevention in high-risk and underserved populations; intentional self-harm; first responder mental health; PTSD; patient engagement and patient-oriented research; and health systems research.

Karla Thorpe is the Director of Prevention and Pro-motion Initiatives at the Mental Health Commission of Canada. In this role, she leads the development and execution of projects to promote Changing Di-rections, Changing Lives: The Mental Health Strat-egy for Canada. Karla holds a Master of Science in Statistics from Queen’s University as well as a Bachelor of Commerce from Carleton University.

Evelyn Tilley has 28 years of experience working in Mental Health and Addictions working in Rural NL. She is currently employed with Eastern Health as a Manager with Eastern Health’s Mental Health and Addictions Program. She has a passion for innova-tion and developing new ideas and approaches...with every innovation comes new learning and of course new ideas of what to do next.

Julie Turcotte, is a Public Health Nurse with Otta-wa Public Health’s Mental Health Team. She is the coordinator and a bilingual trainer of safeTALK sui-cide-alertness workshops offered to all City of Ot-tawa employees and community-based organiza-tions. Julie is the project lead of the Mental Health Caregiver Guide as well as the author; she has re-cently presented this national resource at the 2016 Canadian Mental Health Association and the 2016 Canadian Public Health Association National con-ferences as well as via webinar to Public Health On-tario and Children’s Mental Health Ontario.

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PRESENTERS

Benjamin Verboom is pursuing his PhD in Social Intervention at Oxford University, studying the re-lationship between knowledge, politics and health policy. A survivor of suicide loss, Ben has been in-volved in the cause of suicide prevention for sever-al years. He is particularly interested in mobilizing other survivors around calling for an equitable and progressive suicide prevention policy for Canada.

Aubrey Vincent has been a school teacher, a Direc-tor of Emergency Disaster Services with the Salva-tion Army and is currently the Behavioral Health Coordinator/Chaplain with the St. John’s Regional Fire Department. He is an instructor in Critical Inci-dent Stress Management and has facilitated inter-ventions with most of the First Responder groups. In 2017, Aubrey was trained as an instructor in R2MR and taught over 160 Firefighters/staff of SJRFD.

Tara Welsh has an educational background in psy-chology and brings over a decade of experience working in prevention and promotion. In her role, Tara provides support and consultation regarding resources, programs, and initiatives on mental health promotion and mental illness prevention. This role focuses on increasing protective factors, reducing risk factors, recovery and building resil-iency. Addressing issues such as stigma and sui-cide are priorities in this work.

Cathy Wheaton is bi-cultural Woodland Cree and is a member of Lac La Ronge Indian Band. Cathy has a Masters of Northern Governance and Development and a degree in Indian Studies. Cathy has 25 years experience in Aboriginal education and employ-ment services. Cathy began working in the health sector in 2015. Cathy’s last position was at Lac La Ronge Indian Band Health Services. Cathy has also worked for her First Nation in education and social development beginning in 2009. Cathy began her position as Roots of Hope Coordinator in March of this year.

Dr. Jennifer White is Associate Professor and Direc-tor, School of Child and Youth Care at the University of Victoria. Jennifer has worked in the human ser-vices sector for over two decades and she has prac-ticed in the field of youth suicide prevention since 1988. Jennifer has worked as a clinical counsellor,

educator, policy consultant, researcher, and com-munity developer. Jennifer has published her work in numerous academic journals, has written many practitioner manuals outlining comprehensive, community-based approaches to youth suicide prevention and is the lead editor of the book, Criti-cal Suicidology: Transforming Suicide Research and Prevention for the 21st Century. She is the Project Co-Lead with Dr. Ed Connors on the Wise Practices for Life Promotion website project.

Tayte Willows works as the Community Develop-ment Manager for CMHA PEI. Prior to working at CMHA, she majored in Family Science at the Uni-versity of Prince Edward Island. She is passionate about bringing people together and creating spac-es for innovation to happen. She also loves choco-late, puppies, and long walks on the beach.

Ivana Yellowback is a member of Manto Sipi Cree Nation along with Mathias Colomb Cree Nation (Pu-katawagan) from both her maternal and paternal side(s). Growing up in the inner-city of downtown Winnipeg, Ivana had to balance both tradition-al Ininiwak (Cree) customs and culture along with socio-economical disadvantages and systemic op-pression. Ivana belongs to an all-women’s Drum Group called Keewatin Otchitchak (Northern Crane) Singers, and is a pipe carrier, Sundancer, singer and drum carrier.

Stephanie Zamora is a Dakota/Dene member of the Sayisi Dene First Nation, raised with her tradition-al Dakota ceremonies and teachings since birth. Stephanie comes from a family of hereditary lead-ers and she has learned to successfully navigate both worlds in the leadership work that she does. Stephanie is currently completing her Bachelor of Integrated Arts with a double major in Labor Rela-tions and Industrial Relations from the University of Manitoba, she holds a Certificate in Human Re-source Management from the University of Manito-ba and a Certificate in Health Services Leadership and Management from Red River College.

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PRESENTATION GUIDELINES

PRESENTATION DESCRIPTIONS

Artworks : Performance art, video, etc. in relation to the conference themes.

Panel : thematic discussion by four or more pre-senters to explore issues and new ideas facing the profession. Panels are to be interactive in their dis-cussionthrough using a structured question and answer period or other means.

Paper Presentations: provide authors with the op-portunity to present original work related to Sig-nals of Hope.

Poster/Storyboard: designed to highlight practice experiences, theories or research reports. Posters are displayed for viewing all day on Friday. There are two identified 15 minute time periods to pres-ent to and talk with interested conference partici-pants on Friday.

Roundtable: includes short oral presentations with an extended discussion component and ample time for questions with a group seated around a table. Roundtables are an ideal format for network-ing and to elicit in-depth discussion on a particular topic.

Think Tank: sessions focusing on a single issue or question. Small groups will explore the issue or question, followed by a re-convening in a large group to identify what has been learned and next steps in an action–based process. If the group is small, the discussion may take place among the group as a whole rather than in small groups.

Workshop: interactive sessions designed to illus-trate a set of techniques or to present a topic di-rectly related to practice.

100 – Workshop - Theory to Practice: Developing Resiliency Training for Emerging AdultsHow do we train youth to be resilient? This is a question fraught with complexity and compet-ing ideologies. In this workshop, participants will explore the types of conversations, strategies, and frameworks that agencies, educators and program leaders can use in the creation and development of their programming. This discussion will bring together principles of adaptive leadership, applied research, and models of resiliency to strategically increase understandings of strength-based pro-graming that can ultimately promote life and help to prevent suicide. Conversations will also include concrete strategies for embedding principals of resiliency and life promotion into the programming of educational institutions and in the community.

110 - Paper Presentation with Discussion/Consulta-tion - Development of the Canadian Suicide Surveil-lance Indicator Framework And InfobaseThe presentation will provide an overview of the development and structure of the Canadian Suicide Surveillance Indicator Framework (CSSIF) and its

incorporation into the Government of Canada’s Public Health Infobase. The CSSIF Infobase is an interactive, online tool which presents a select set of indicators necessary for comprehensive suicide surveillance. The CSSIF makes the most current statistics publicly available in order to inform decision-making and support the development and evaluation of effective prevention programs and interventions. Data sources included in the CSSIF Infobase include the Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS), the Canadian Vital Statistics- Death Database (CVS-D), the National Ambulatory Care Reporting System (NACRS) and others.

120 – Workshop - Zero Suicide Implementation Lessons Learned: Are You Ready?We would like to present the overall framework for Zero Suicide and then discuss our completed pilot phase of implementation, as well as our planned second and third phases. We will cover implemen-tation strategies, lessons learned, experiences with change management, involvement of patients/fam-ilies/front line clinicians, and the feedback we’ve received, including optimization strategies. We will

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PRESENTATION DESCRIPTIONSalso include a presentation of our pilot evaluation results and how we intend to improve them even further. We will use Zero Suicide’s Organizational Self-Study as an interactive tool to help partic-ipants assess their organization’s readiness for implementation as well as any gaps and areas of focus they may wish to consider. Workshop capacity will be 30 participants and the format will include PowerPoint and participant interaction.

130 – Panel - Zero Suicide Initiation and Implemen-tation in Southern OntarioThis panel will represent two approaches to initia-tion and implementation of the Zero Suicide pro-gram. We would like to briefly introduce the overall framework for Zero Suicide and then discuss St. Joseph’s’ experience completing our pilot phase of implementation, as well as our second and third phases. St. Michael’s is in the initiation phase and will be discussing their approach and strategies. We will talk about the differences in organizational culture, populations, staff, etc. and how our deci-sions were made regarding tools and processes, training, education, and change management.

140- Workshop - Skills for Safer Living: a Group InterventionIn this session, participants will be introduced to the primary concepts and skills in the weekly group intervention - Skills for Safer Living: A psychoso-cial/psychoeducational intervention for people with recurrent suicide attempts, (SfSL/PISA); a program developed specifically for and with people who have experienced suicide related thoughts and behaviours regardless of diagnoses. As a first step intervention, the goals of engaging with the possibility to choose life and live life more safely with a view to decreasing the duration, intensi-ty and frequency of episodes will be discussed. Participants in this session will be introduced to our understanding of suicide-related thoughts and behaviours from a theoretical perspective and how this understanding has generated key components of the intervention. Learning Objectives: A. Partic-ipants will learn the underpinning concepts and skills to an intervention created for and with peo-ple with recurrent suicide attempts; B. Participants will be exposed to a non-diagnostically specific intervention for people with recurrent suicide at-

tempts, focusing on finding the language to express “psychache” in a non-behavioural manner.

150- Poster - Alexithymia and Suicidality: A Niche Treatment Target Area? Alexithymia is a construct traditionally defined by difficulty recognizing emotions, expressing feelings and having an externally fixated style of thinking resulting in reduced comprehension of internal experiences. Recent studies have shown that alexithymia puts people at an increased risk of suicidality yet there has been little attention to the people with repeat attempts. One hundred and sixty-nine participants of the Skills for Safer Living group intervention for people with recurrent suicide attempts completed a series of proxy mea-sures related to suicide, including the Toronto Alex-ithmia Scale. This presentation will report on the results from this study which suggests intervention targeting emotional literacy has a significant place in working with people with recurrent suicide attempts. Learning Objectives: A. Participants will be able to name the components of alexithymia and how it might impact suicidality; B. Participants will learn the need for and relevancy of emotional literacy in working with people who have had two or more suicide attempts.

160 Paper Presentation - Our Mind Our Health: Life Promoting Workshops in Rural Central AlbertaHealthy suicide prevention activities promote connectedness, supportive communities and encourages people in rural communities to have a healthy curiosity about the wellbeing of their minds and those of their neighbours. “Our Mind, Our Health” is a workshop series developed to cre-ate awareness and build capacity on mental health, addiction and suicide issues in rural communities. Participants learn about how to have empathetic conversations, suicide ideation, and how to en-courage people who are suicidal to seek the right professionals support. Evaluation of the workshop shows that participants report being an increase and greater understanding about the warning signs of suicide; being comfortable, confident and capable of approaching anyone who may be suicidal and providing a signal of hope to them and directing them to appropriate resources

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PRESENTATION DESCRIPTIONS170- Paper Presentation - Nurturing Student Resil-iency at Brandon UniversityBrandon University, like most post-secondary institutions, is facing a growing number of students experiencing significant anxiety and other mental health concerns. Student Accessibility Services identified this growing trend, particularly observing a gap in students’ understanding of their mental health difficulty and strategies to support their own wellness. “Monarchs” is a new collaboration between the Department of Educational Psychology & Student Services and Student Accessibility Ser-vices at Brandon University offering an innovative approach to supporting students with disabilities experiencing significant mental health difficulties. Based upon Acceptance and Commitment Ther-apy (ACT), this program was designed to assist students in developing skills to support wellness and strengthen meaning-making and life purpose. The program has been delivered to three groups of students to date. Early observations about the efficacy of the program, and several of the more transformative strategies taught in the workshop, will be shared in an interactive way

180- Paper Presentation - Partnership and Youth Suicide Prevention in Rural ManitobaThe Suicide Prevention Implementation Network (SPIN) in Brandon, Manitoba is a community network of thirty agencies working together to promote wellness and reduce the risk of suicide. Our six goals emphasize awareness, education, and support. One of the ways that we deliver on our goals is by focusing on youth suicide prevention initiatives. In doing so, we work closely with our school divisions to ensure that there is emphasis on mental health/wellness activities. Successful projects include the annual Youth Wellness Day for grade 9 students, partnership with Youth Revolu-tion group, delivery of Mental Health Commission of Canada Headstrong youth anti-stigma initiative, and Indigenous Traditional Teachings. This presen-tation will provide a focused discussion about the strengths and challenges delivering on our goals in rural Manitoba related to suicide awareness and prevention, along with the difficulty in determining if these projects are effective in reducing the risk of suicide

190 – Roundtable - Who Supports the Supporters? Life Promotion for FamiliesThis session will focus on the importance of families needing supports, when a loved one has suicidal ideation. Techniques and skills on life promotion and self-care will be discussed. Ques-tions regarding care for people living with complex special needs will be posed. The impetus for this session is based on professional and lived experi-ence.

200 – Workshop - Wise Practices for Indigenous Youth Life Promotion/Suicide Prevention WebsiteThe purpose of this website is to produce a useful, culturally relevant, accessible, and hopeful online resource to advance the goals of preventing indigenous youth suicide through activities that promote the connections of youth to life. The seven Indgenouscommunity stories that are featured in our launch demonstrate how activities that promote hope meaning, purpose and belonging in youth steer them towards life and away from death. This project brings together inspirational stories and wise practices along with recently published research. The information is shared on our web-based platform for maximum accessibility. This workshop will be the launch of our website on the east coast following our west coast launch a few weeks prior. We will demonstrate the features of our website and answer questions from the audience about how they can access and use this resource. We will be adding community stories to the site in the coming years.

210- Roundtable - Dialectical Behavioral Therapy Skills and Faith Communities in Suicide PreventionFaith communities, while on the front lines and a natural gatekeeper and resource in suicide preven-tion, in many cases may not be consulted in com-munity suicide prevention initiatives, nor are they always equipped with research-based skills and knowledge in suicide prevention. DBT (Dialectical Behavioral Therapy) is a leading therapy framework and skill development resource in suicide preven-tion. DBT engages and was born out of elements of spirituality (Zen Buddhism) and CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy). The presentation and round-table will include an initial examination of DBT skills and will then examine the question of if they

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PRESENTATION DESCRIPTIONSare compatible or already happening within faith communities. The roundtable will also examine the place of faith communities in community suicide prevention and will then explore the hypothesis that DBT skills are a resource that strengthens faith communities in research-based skills which then furthers their effectiveness and value in communi-ty suicide prevention.

220 – Paper Presentation - Who are the Members of a Darknet Accessible Pro-Suicide Forum? / Qui Sont Les Membres De Forums Pro-Suicide Accessi-ble Sur Le Darknet ?Research on suicide-related Internet use have focused on the content of sites accessible us-ing common Internet search engines. However, pro-suicide forums are readily accessible via the Darknet. The aim is to describe the characteristics of active users of a pro-suicide forum accessible on a Darknet and to enumerate the reasons to die they expressed. The content of a thread extract-ed with web-scrapping codes was analysed using content analysis. A coding schema was developed, and the posts were independently coded. Descrip-tive and inferential statistics were calculated. Of the 751 available posts, 344 were analysed. Among the members who disclosed socio-demographic information 81% were men, 74% were unemployed and 88% were single. Mean age was 23 (SD = 4,12). Profiles of active users were highlighted based on the socio-demographic data and the reasons to die elicited. Our findings provide sensible insights to inform suicide prevention strategies to reach a seemingly at-risk population.

Les recherches sur l’utilisation de l’Internet liée au suicide ont porté sur le contenu des sites acces-sibles à l’aide de moteurs de recherche Internet courants. Cependant, les forums sur le suicide sont facilement accessibles via le Darknet. L’objectif est de décrire les caractéristiques des utilisateurs actifs d’un forum pro-suicide accessible sur un réseau Darknet et d’énumérer les raisons de leur décès. Le contenu d’un thread extrait avec des co-des de mise au rebut Web a été analysé à l’aide de l’analyse de contenu. Un schéma de codage a été développé et les articles ont été codés indépen-damment. Les statistiques descriptives et inféren-tielles ont été calculées. Sur les 751 postes dispo-

nibles, 344 ont été analysés. Parmi les membres ayant divulgué des informations sociodémogra-phiques, 81% étaient des hommes, 74% étaient au chômage et 88% étaient célibataires. L’âge moyen était de 23 ans (écart-type = 4,12). Les profils des utilisateurs actifs ont été mis en évidence sur la base des données sociodémographiques et des raisons de leur décès. Nos résultats fournissent des informations utiles pour éclairer les stratégies de prévention du suicide afin d’atteindre une popula-tion apparemment à risque.

225- Poster - Analyse De Contenu Des Publications Liées Aux Darknets Sur Un Forum Pro-SuicideLes contenus du Surface Web lies au suicide pourraient élever le risque de suicide des inter-nautes suicidaires. Les contenus Darknets et leur utilisation pour des motifs liés au suicide n’ont pas encore été étudiés sous cet angle. Cette étude examine les conversations sur les Darknets au sein d’un forum pro-suicide accessible via les Darknets. 91 mots-clés ont été recherchés parmi toutes les publications d’un forum. Les publications compre-nant ces mots-clés ont fait l’objet d’une analyse de contenu. 1 % des publications traitaient des Darknets (100 sur 7001). Les discussions portaient principalement sur l’achat de Fentanyl et de Nem-butal. Plusieurs barrières et facilitants à leur achat ont été identifiés dont l’accessibilité, la fiabilité des transactions et la familiarité aux Bitcoins. Les discussions entre internautes sur l’achat de substances létales sur les Darknets suggèrent que ces plateformes seraient un moyen efficace pour se procurer des substances létales.

230 – Poster - Paramedic Suicides In Canada: Ring-ing the AlarmRates of suicide among Canadian paramedics are about four times greater than the average national rate, and literature focusing on risk and protec-tive factors related to their suicidal behaviors is sparse. Besides, it does not appear that any evi-dence-based suicide prevention program targeting this specific population has been developed yet. However, more research has been conducted with other first responders, namely law enforcement personnel and firefighters. During this presenta-tion, I review the existing literature focusing on work-related risk and protective factors associated

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PRESENTATION DESCRIPTIONSwith suicidal behaviors among first responders. Furthermore, I describe the factors that make para-medics at greater risk of suicide: high prevalence of posttraumatic stress disorder, access to lethal means, exposure to suicides and substance abuse. Finally, I introduce an ongoing project addressing the work-related factors associated with suicidal behaviors in a large sample of Canadian para-medics, the first step towards a suicide prevention program targeting paramedics.

240 – Paper Presentation - The Digital Quebec Sui-cide Prevention Strategy. La Stratégie Numérique Québécoise De Prévention Du SuicideOn May 19, 2017, the Quebec Association for Suicide Prevention (AQPS) received funding from the Minis-try of Health and Social Services (MSSS) to develop a Digital Suicide Prevention Strategy through the use of new technologies for the prevention of suicide for the province of Quebec. This 10-year strategy will guide the development of online ini-tiatives, interventions and technologies to inform people about suicide, to identify suicidal people, to offer help to suicidal people who do not respond as well to traditional resources, and increase the visibility of certain resources. In this session, we will first discuss the participatory, evidence-based approach adopted by the AQPS in the develop-ment of the strategy. We will then present the main findings of the preliminary work that guided the development of the strategy. We will end the ses-sion with a presentation of the different services and technologies that will be developed as part of the strategy.

Le 19 mai 2017, l’Association québécoise de pré-vention du suicide (AQPS) a reçu du Ministère de la Santé et des Services Sociaux (MSSS) un finan-cement pour élaborer une Stratégie numérique en prévention du suicide par l’utilisation des nou-velles technologies pour le Québec. Cette stratégie, d’une durée de 10 ans, guidera le développement d’initiatives, d’interventions en ligne et de techno-logies permettant d’informer à propos du suicide, de repérer les personnes suicidaires, d’offrir de l’aide à la personne suicidaire qui répond moins bien aux ressources traditionnelles, et d’augmen-ter la visibilité de certaines ressources. Lors de cette session, nous aborderons d’abord l’approche

participative fondée sur des données probantes adoptée par l’AQPS lors du développement de la stratégie. Nous présenterons ensuite les grands constats des travaux préliminaires ayant orienté l’élaboration de la stratégie. Nous terminerons la session par une présentation des différents ser-vices et technologies qui seront développés dans le cadre de la stratégie.

250 Paper Presentation - Engaging Men and Boys for Life PromotionThough men and boys are at higher risk for dying by suicide, they are often under-engaged in services, in part because of the mismatch be-tween service design and effective approaches for engagement. Our Community Shed program was designed with boys and men as a primary audi-ence and – though the space is used by women as well – has been very successful in engaging men and boys and promoting their well-being. This approach to engaging men and boys has been utilized elsewhere internationally and nationally, but continues to be undervalued. We would like to share our lessons learned with CASP participations.

260 – Paper Presentation - Addressing Root Causes of Suicide in NunatsiavutUnder funding for the National Inuit Suicide Prevention Strategy (ITK, 2016), the Nunatsiavut Government is leading two initiatives aiming to address root causes of the disproportionate rates for suicide within our region. As complimentary activities to our on-going work we are operating (1) an overnight Youth Center with low-barriers to provide a safe and supportive environment for all youth, particularly vulnerable youth, in the hours when other services are not available and (2) addressing sexual violence through the provi-sion of clinical intervention to offenders of sexual violence, building professional capacity to respond to sexual violence, and increasing community capacity to have healthy sexual relationships. Both of these projects are targeting key risk factors we have seen correlated with suicidality – lack of safe, supportive spaces for youth through the night and high rates of sexual violence. Both projects have proven highly successful and have received much interest from elsewhere.

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PRESENTATION DESCRIPTIONS270 – Paper Presentation - Developing a Suicide Prevention Strategy: The Building Blocks of HopeIn 2017, the Government of Prince Edward Island (PEI) partnered with the Canadian Mental Health Association - PEI Division (CMHA) to develop a Provincial Suicide Prevention Strategy. CMHA as-sembled a strategy team that spent the next year exploring research, best practices, and consulting with Islanders. In the early planning stages, it became evident that an effective strategy would need to focus on increasing hope and reducing hopelessness, both of which can be experienced on a personal and societal level. This presentation will showcase how the CMHA team applied a lens of hope and used a grounded theory in the develop-ment of a suicide prevention strategy. Participants will explore the steps for hosting safe, effective, and accessible community consultations that build hope. Participants will also understand how the Prince Edward Island community created the build-ing blocks of hope (hearing, helping, and healing).

280- Workshop - Preventing Suicide Among Farm-ers, An Example Of Quebec Collaboration. - Préve-nir Le Suicide Chez Les Agriculteurs, Exemple De Collaboration QuébécoiseThe Workshop offers several things: an awareness exchange of the agricultural producers’ reality and the risk factors of this group more affected by suicide in Quebec; a sharing of strategies and cre-ative tools developed for this high-risk group, that are also difficult to reach; examples of less usual collaborations that led to the implementation of new awareness, intervention and postvention prac-tices; an understanding of the provincial services, offerred by the (Suicide Prevention Centres Quebec Association) Regroupement des Centres de Préven-tion du Québec (RCPSQ). Capacity: 25 participants. L’Atelier propose plusieurs choses : un échange de sensibilisation sur la réalité des producteurs agricoles et les facteurs de risque de ce groupe da-vantage touché par le suicide au Québec ; un par-tage de stratégies et d’outils créatifs développés pour ce groupe à risque et difficilement joignable ; des exemples de collaborations moins habituelles qui ont conduit à la mise en place de nouvelles pratiques de sensibilisation, d’intervention et de postvention ; une compréhension de l’offre de services provinciale du Regroupement des Centres de prévention du Québec (RCPSQ). Capacité : 25 participants

290- Workshop - An Integrated Approach to Mental Health and AddictionsA look into the Collaboration that has taken place to develop the Halton Regional Police (HRPS) Inte-grated Mental Health Teams which consists of the Crisis Outreach and Support Team, Mobile Crisis Rapid Response Team and Crisis Aftercare. The overall goal is to deliver services to those that need them the most, when they need them, while ad-vocating for the needs of the person in crisis. This will be demonstrated through in depth discussion, practical group activity and case studies. By work-ing collaboratively with Community partners, HRPS has become a leader in providing front line crisis intervention while working with a mental health professional. This has had a profound result in the education and prevention as well as a decrease in sigma within our community. Teaching Points: Community Safety and Well Being, Integrated crisis intervention and de-escalation, Changing the mind and culture of Police Response.

300- Paper Presentation - Who Leaves a Suicide Note?Previous studies of suicide decedents who left suicide notes and those who did not have yielded conflicting and inconclusive findings in terms of socio-demographic and mental and physical health characteristics. The aim of this study was to utilize 3 years data from consecutive deaths by suicide from the Southwestern Ontario Suicide Study (SOSS) to determine the differences in psychosocial and clinical factors of suicide decedents who left behind notes and those who did not. Data on psy-chosocial and clinical factors were collected with a modified version of the Manchester questionnaire used in the UK from the decedent’s most respon-sible clinician or coronial files. Of the 476 suicides cases reviewed, 218 (45.8%) suicide decedents left a total of 383 separate suicide notes. These final notes were left in a variety of formats: 74.3% were written notes and 25.7% were electronic notes. The results of the bivariate analyses and multivariate regression analysis will be presented and implica-tions for prevention will be discussed.

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PRESENTATION DESCRIPTIONS330- Workshop - Hope in Action: A Solution-Fo-cused Approach to Suicide InterventionSolution-Focused Brief Therapy is a client-cen-tered, evidence-based approach that is a good fit with the needs of suicide intervention work. In this interactive workshop, key elements of the model will be introduced through mini-lecture, discussion, demonstration, and practice. As a strengths-based approach, SFBT is useful in eliciting, highlight-ing and reinforcing clients’ hopes and reasons for living. It is also a practice that contributes to practitioner hopefulness and to “vicarious resilien-cy”. Participants can expect to leave with concrete ideas about how to introduce SFBT in their own intervention work.

340- Workshop - “Tough Enough to Talk About It”Tough Enough to Talk About It uses workplace pre-sentations to provide employees with information on how to recognize mental health problems, how to ask about those issues, and how to arrange for help. The presenters also talk about how to recog-nize the signs of distress and depression and offers tips for self-care. Tough Enough To Talk About It, formerly known as the Men at Risk program, opens the program to a wider audience of men and women from any workplace or community setting. Tough Enough To Talk About It means learning what it takes to become Tough Enough to Talk About Mental Health in the Workplace, with our Family, and in the Community.

360 Workshop - Postvention Activities in a Commu-nity Following a SuicidePostvention programs were first developed in schools. However, a suicide affects people, well beyond the walls of the school environment, especially in very small settings (rural, remote areas). Even if we do not doubt the relevance of having such a program, postvention programs have often been criticized, especially regarding their structure and their logic. It is now recommended to avoid the application of a step by step/wall to wall model and replace it by a different treatment approach. The workshop proposes a new logic for more personalized intervention: the right interven-tion, with the right people, at the right moment. We propose an approach that will guide stakeholders in their decision-making process in order to choose

the interventions to implement following a suicide whether at school, another setting or in an entire community.370- Workshop - Facing the Challenge of Running Suicide Bereavement Support Group in Regions.The experimentation of a closed-type group, as found in the several suicide prevention centers in Quebec, has caused a number of difficulties related to the vast territory served in the Lauren-tian. In 1996, the CPS Faubourg reconsidered the structure of the support group . The main concern was to keep the benefits of the closed group while eliminating, as much as possible, the complications encountered: minimum number required to start a group, loss of participants jeopardizing the survival of the group, waiting for enough participants to start the group, etc. We kept the structured side of the closed group, while adapting it to an open group. Experience has shown us how much we have made the right choice. Over the years, we have re-fined the program and developed a variety of tools. The structured open group of the CPS Faubourg brings a lot of advantages and especially, it has the flexibility to adapt to a regional reality ... and spread out.

380- Workshop - Suicide and the Trust Dilemma”- What Happens when an Individual has lost their Ability to Trust and Feel Safe and Yet Still Have Needs to be Met?This workshop is designed to help participants become aware of the challenges that are presented by individuals who struggle with trusting others and use suicide as a way to control the behavior of individuals around them. This presentation helps caregivers understand the many styles of control that are used and how the H.A.R.T. Formula can aid in understanding why and how individuals use these to meet their needs for safety and trust. Blocks to communication and verbal strategies are discussed so that caregivers can experience a “different conversation”.

390 – Think Tank - What Would Suicide Prevention Look Like Without Risk Assessment (Prediction)?The idea that predicting suicides can lead to prevention of suicides has dominated the field of suicide studies for the last 25 years. However this has led to few helpful interventions, alienates

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PRESENTATION DESCRIPTIONSservice users and provides information of limited utility. Furthermore, there is little evidence that suicide can be predicted. This think tank aims to encourage new thinking about suicide prevention that does not rely on risk assessment. The think tank will consider both population and individual approaches to suicide prevention. At the end of the think tank we plan to have a draft manifesto for suicide prevention that does not rely on predicting who will die by suicide.

400- Think Tank - Rural and Remote Access to Care in Suicide Intervention: How Can we Limit Shame and Stigma’s Influence?People in small communities know each other. This can create safety and connectedness in life pro-motion and prevention initiatives, and it may also be a barrier to accessing service when someone is struggling with suicidal thoughts/behaviours and/or grieving the loss of a loved one to suicide. What role does shame and stigma play in accessing services within a rural and remote context? What can be done within systems of care to acknowledge potential consequences or impact on a person from disclosing suicidal behavior in closer knit communities? Depending on how people self- identify, does that further impact barriers to care in a smaller community? What can we learn from similarities/differences between urban/remote experiences to care and navigating shame?

410 – Workshop - Promoting Life Together Col-laborative: Life Promotion Through Partnership Building and EngagementThis workshop will discuss elements of relationship building and partnerships between mainstream health organizations and Indigenous organizations/communities working together on life promotion and community wellness initiatives. Using the ‘Pro-moting Life Together’ collaborative supported by the Canadian Foundation for Healthcare Improve-ment, and in partnership with the First People’s Wellness Circle, the First People’s committee of the CASP, and Thunderbird Partnership, this workshop will demonstrate how partnerships advance the work of teams and the collaborative overall to put reconciliation into action. The Promoting Life Together Collaborative brings together multi-dis-ciplinary teams from across northern, rural and

remote parts of Canada. The collaborative sup-ports the development of meaningful partner-ships between health authorities and Indigenous communities, and provides learning opportunities for understanding and application of wise practic-es for life promotion, Indigenous mental wellness frameworks, and culturally safe practices. Togeth-er, collaborative teams design, implement, and evaluate improvement initiatives on life promotion alongside their communities.

420- Paper Presentation - Issues in Assessing Sui-cide Risk in a Maximum Security Jail. Suicide is one of the leading cause of death for people incarcerated (Hayes, 2012). People incar-cerated often find themselves cut off from their support system, their coping strategies become unavailable while in the meantime having to cope with unfamiliar, potentially dangerous situations. For some of these people the distress becomes overwhelming. Central North Correctional Centre (CNCC) house over 1000 male and female clients; between December 2017 and June 2018 over 60 peo-ple have been assessed as potential suicide risk by the psychology department alone. A review of the common findings about suicide ideations, plans and attempts in a maximum security jail is offered. Current policies about solitary confinement and suicide risk interventions are also addressed. The process of balancing Ministry policies, suicide risk identification, clinical interventions, client’s rights and recovery plan strategies in a maximum security jail (with their limits and potentiality) are addressed.

430- Paper Presentation - Lessons Learned from Land-Based Programming for Suicide Prevention in Young Men and Boys in the Canadian NorthIn northern Canada, suicide is a leading cause of death in many Indigenous communities. Indige-nous males, especially youth, are disproportion-ately impacted, with suicide rates from 3 to 11 times higher than their non-Indigenous peers. We have created a multi-sector partnership to devel-op, deliver and evaluate a series of land-based mental health programs which combine Indigenous cultural knowledge with therapeutic and health promoting interventions in a wilderness setting in three Canadian territories and one province.

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PRESENTATION DESCRIPTIONSOur programs have improved the mental health of Indigenous males by targeting factors that pro-mote mental health and protect against suicide risk including cultural identity, personal agency, the ability to cope with stress, social support, connection to positive role models, and a sense of community belonging. During the presentation we will share the results of our evaluation and the lessons learnt.

440 – Panel - Applications of Road to Mental Readi-ness (R2MR) for CAF, Civilian and Family contextsThe R2MR program educates members of the Cana-dian Armed Forces (CAF) and their families about mental health and resiliency. The overall goals of the R2MR program are to improve short-term performance and well-being, while mitigating any longer-term mental health problems. The program includes a set of trainable mental skills; aims to in-crease mental health literacy (including early iden-tification of signs of mental illness); development of adaptive coping strategies and a recovery plan; outline the importance of social support; address barriers to seeking mental health care (including stigma); and reviewing procedures for accessing mental health resources. This panel discussion will describe how R2MR has been tailored and adapted to meet the unique needs of the CAF member, their families and civilian contexts. Learning Objectives: Attendees will be able to identify the mental skills training offered by the R2MR program.

450- Workshop - Overview of the Road to Mental Readiness (R2MR) programsThe R2MR program educates members of the Cana-dian Armed Forces (CAF) and their families about mental health and resiliency. The overall goals of the R2MR program are to improve short-term performance and well-being, while mitigating any longer-term mental health problems. This program includes a set of trainable mental skills; aims to in-crease mental health literacy (including early iden-tification of signs of mental illness); development of adaptive coping strategies and a recovery plan; outline the importance of social support; address barriers to seeking mental health care (including stigma); and reviewing procedures for accessing mental health resources. This workshop will guide the audience through a review of the core resil-iency skills taught by R2MR alongside applications

of the Mental Health Continuum Model. Learning Objectives: A. Attendees will be able to identify the mental skills training offered by the R2MR program; B. Attendees will be able to use the Mental Health Continuum Model; C. Attendees will be able to identify the key skills in the Big Four

460 – Workshop - Capacity Building in Rural Com-munitiesThe workshop highlights resources to engage com-munities in prevention and life promotion through the power of lived experience, creative program-ming and activity grants that build capacity. Lived experience is shown in a video created by the com-mittee featuring a local mother who lost her son to suicide. The video sends a powerful message about suicide, its impact and promotes the key messages of knowing the warning signs and where to get help. Survivor Challenge and Girls Night Out are two suicide awareness programs developed to promote key suicide prevention messages in a fun way. Participants will have an opportunity to experience hands-on demonstrations of program activities. Toolkits will be available for participants to explore. Finally, the committee offers Activity Grants to motivate groups throughout the Western region to take action on suicide, creating conversa-tion which otherwise might not occur. Since 2014, 42 grants have been supported, reaching 3070 participants.

470 – Workshop - A Narrative & Reflective Approach to Postvention Hope & HealingThis workshop offers opportunities for postven-tion supporters to signal hope, enhance healing and apply a narrative approach to help survivors of loss journey through recovery. The workshop will include: Better Place…a musical reflection and sharing; Kim & Brendan’s story; Examining knowl-edge and experience; Building hope and supporting healing; Complicated nature of suicide; Narrative techniques and practices; Activities in this work-shop: Decentered Introductions; Guidelines when working with survivors of suicide loss; Questions to explore with survivors of loss; Create a toolbox of questions to help survivors signal hope and share their story; Memories of You: a musical reflection and sharing; Closing Reflection and sharing – what have I learned and how can I apply this workshop to signal hope and offer support

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PRESENTATION DESCRIPTIONS480 – Paper Presentation - Contagion in a Popu-lar Social Network: A Comprehensive Predictive AnalysisSuicide contagion is the facilitation of suicidal ideation or behavior in one individual as a result of suicide-related exposure (e.g., via peers or the me-dia). Growing research suggests that communica-tion via social media may have particular salience when discussing suicide, especially for adolescents who use social media more than any other age group. Little research, however, has examined the extent to which online communication regarding suicide operates in a contagion-like manner. Here, we examine whether messages in which youth post about their own suicidal ideation or behaviors in-crease the likelihood that other youth within their immediate network post about suicidal ideation or behavior. This study uses data from TalkLife, an ad-olescent peer-based support network centered on mental health with over 450,000 users, to explore if contagion exists in an online social network. Future directions and clinical implications will be discussed.

490 – Poster - Suicide in Rural Regions: Current State of the EvidenceSuicide represents a critical and pervasive glob-al health concern. To effectively address suicide, researchers, clinicians, and policy makers need to consider the multitude of factors that contrib-ute to suicide risk, which may vary on the basis of geographic region. This may be especially relevant when considering suicide in rural areas. Indeed, such regions may have unique risk factors and challenges regarding prevention and access to treatment. To this end, it is paramount that researchers and policy makers both recognize and account for these factors when addressing sui-cide in rural settings. Hence, this presentation will provide coverage of the current state of empiri-cal-based knowledge pertinent to suicide in rural areas. In doing so, the presentation will elucidate gaps in the literature and highlight rural-relevant needs and avenues for suicide-related education and intervention.

510 – Poster - BC First Nations Youth Leading Youth Advisory Committee for Life Promotion (YLYAC-LP)Presenting on a CFHI-funded project, delivered

in partnership between FNHA & Fraser Health Authority, wherein we have set out to support BC First Nations Youth leaders through the plan-ning, implementation and evaluation of a suicide prevention/life promotion project designed by and for them. Through this project we are aiming to empower youth change-makers to make a positive difference in their communities by providing them with training, resources and funding to confidently plan and implement local life promotion services (i.e. motivational talks, workshops, cultural events, mentoring programs). We are supporting these future leaders with capacity building in specific skill sets (i.e. suicide prevention/life promotion, peer support, public speaking skills, trauma-in-formed care), as well as providing opportunities for practical and valuable experience in teamwork, committee management, facilitation, community engagement, and health promotion project plan-ning, implementation and evaluation. Our project is strongly focused on hearing the voice of youth, those with lived experience, and responding to our target population’s self-identified needs.

520 – Paper Presentation - A Multidimensional Theory of Suicide: A Psychological Autopsy Corrob-orative StudyBackground: Theory is the foundation of science; this is true in suicidology. Over decades of studies of suicide notes, Leenaars developed a multidi-mensional model of suicide, with international (cross-cultural) studies and independent verifica-tion. Aim. To corroborate Leenaars’ theory with a psychological autopsy (PA) study, examining age and sex of the decedent, and survivor’s relation-ship to deceased. Method. A PA study in Norway, with 120 survivors/informants was undertaken. Leenaars’ theoretical-conceptual (protocol) analy-sis was undertaken of the survivors’ narratives and in-depth interviews combined. Results. Substantial inter-judge reliability was noted (Kappa = .632). Overall, there was considerable confirmatory evi-dence of Leenaars’ intrapsychic and interpersonal factors in suicide survivors’ narratives. Differences were found in the age of the decedent, but not in sex, nor in the survivor’s closeness of the rela-tionship. Older deceased people were perceived to exhibit more heightened unbearable intrapsy-chic pain, associated to the suicide. Conclusion.

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PRESENTATION DESCRIPTIONSLeenaars’ theory has corroborative verification, through the decedents’ suicide notes and the sur-vivors’ narratives. However, the multidimensional model needs further testing to develop a better evidence-based way of understanding suicide

530 – Workshop (30 min) - Under the KevlarI will be using my session to address the stigma surrounding the struggle officers have when seek-ing mental health help given the current culture of policing and providing alternative approaches that may resonate and help them realize when it’s time to ask for help. Throughout my presentation I will be relating this to my own personal experience both as a police officer with 14 years on the job and as survivor and what I went through when I lost my mother who died by suicide in 2014. I give personal accounts of how I have managed my own mental health diagnosis of PTSD and what tools I utilize to navigate the culture of policing. My aim is to leave the audience with the knowledge that seeking help is not a sign of weakness, that there are supports for them and that getting help is essential to manage their careers successfully. I will the end the session with time dedicated for discussions and questions.

540 - Paper Presentation - Suicide-Related Pre-sentations to an Inner-City Emergency Department (ED): A Retrospective Review Study.Current research shows that 31% of those who died by suicide in Toronto had contact with emergency services in the preceding 12 months (Sinyor et al., 2016) suggesting that patients with self-injurious behaviors (SIB) view the ED as a primary source of contact when in suicidal crisis (Colman et al., 2004). This session will examine presentations to the ED at a major inner-city hospital with respect to the type of presentation, patients’ characteristics and discharge plans. Presentations to the ED were classified into four levels of severities of SIB, with a focus on those of higher lethality and the care plan they received. During this session, we will discuss optimal care based on international literature as well as data results from our research with the aim of developing effective intervention tools for patients who are seeking ED services to reduce recurrence of suicidal behaviors or ideations.

550 – Paper Presentation - Community-Based Knowledge Translation and Suicide Prevention in an Ontario First Nation CommunityThe development of suicide prevention program-ming with First Nations communities must acknowl-edge the unique social, traditional, political, and economic context of each First Nation. In doing so, however, we are faced with the challenge of trans-lating evidences for the benefit of the community while being under pressure from our home institu-tions to engage in research. Utilizing a communi-ty-based knowledge translation model this paper will explore the process of bi-directional evidence exchange in the development and maintenance of a community-owned suicide prevention program. Drawing on community and partner narratives we will explore how hope replaces hopelessness through the development of strong, positive social connections for youth. The result is a model re-moved from the clinical or institutional realm and repositioned to incorporate social determinants of health as experienced in a local First Nation context.

580 – Roundtable - Developing a Research and Knowledge Translation Agenda on Suicide Preven-tionThe need for a pan-Canadian research and knowl-edge translation agenda on suicide and its pre-vention emerged from stakeholder engagement informing the Federal Framework for Suicide Prevention. One of the issues identified by stake-holders during the development of the Framework is the lack of alignment in research agendas across Canada. This along with other issues, including a research overlap and a lack of knowledge transla-tion limits the opportunity to accelerate the use of research and innovation in suicide prevention in Canada. There is a need to focus on specific and cross-cutting research areas that are most likely to move the field of suicide research and prevention forward and maximize the impact of knowledge translation and exchange. The development of a Canadian research and knowledge translation agenda is expected to support the needs of com-munities, frontline providers and decision mak-ers, and facilitate knowledge uptake, particularly among populations with high rates of suicide.

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PRESENTATION DESCRIPTIONS600 – Paper Presentation - Safely Involving Youth Voice In Life Promotion InitiativesYouth with lived experience of mental health struggles add value to mental health/life promo-tion/suicide prevention initiatives. Specifically, in sharing testimony of their lived experience, youth can effectively improve knowledge and shift attitudes about mental health among their peers. However, sharing personal testimony, without guidance or intentionality, can be dangerous and counterproductive. At Jack.org we’ve learned to shape, support, and intentionally apply the sharing of such stories in life promotion/suicide prevention initiatives across Canada. In this presentation, we will share learnings from our years of facilitating the sharing of youth testimony: our early mistakes and subsequent successes in this facilitation, the impact and appropriateness of such storytelling, and safeguards to preventing triggering.

610- Think Tank - Building Community Capacity through Incorporating Lived Experience and Professional ExpertiseAt Jack.org, staff support youth-led mental health initiatives that improve help seeking behavior among young people. Initially, balancing youth lived experience with (staff) professional expertise presented a unique challenge, and though much clarity was achieved as programs reached maturity, the specifics of this balancing merits re-visitation, as our programs continue to evolve and scale across Canada. Research shows that initiatives that build community capacity (i.e. empower youth) to address health issues are more effective and more sustainable than traditional counterparts, but integrating this theory into practice poses difficulty. The central question for this Think Tank is: what does meaningful capacity building look like for community-based life promotion or suicide prevention initiatives? Small group discussions will focus on delineating the roles and responsibilities of 1) the mental health professional with content knowledge and 2) the community member with lived experience, with larger group discussions centering on overlap between the two roles and addressing both parties’ needs, priorities, and concerns.

630 – Workshop - Therapeutic Writing Techniques in Suicide PostventionThis interactive workshop will first introduce the value of writing as a therapeutic tool to work through the emotional pain of suicide loss. The benefits and risks will be discussed, including risk management strategies. Participants will then be invited to experience short, focused sample writing exercises, followed by discussion of the impact of the activity and its potential usefulness. Learning Objectives: A. Participants will understand the potential uses and benefits of therapeutic writing in suicide postvention; B. understand practical, effective tools to manage the risks of therapeutic writing.

650 – Paper Presentation - Suicide Ideation as an (Unconscious) Wellness ToolConventionally, suicide ideation takes the person and their supporter down a direct path to suicide assessment, possibly getting authorities involved. This can disempower the person, who already feels powerless in the face of something they cannot trust themselves to handle. This workshop examines a middle step we are missing between confirmation of suicide ideation and fear of suicide behavior. Currently, we look at ideation as a po-tential indicator of action rather than an indicator of a particular thought processing pattern. This can unintentionally tell the person they can’t be trust-ed by themselves or by others, which can escalate the suicidal behavior. This presentation explores a new perspective where suicide ideation offers emotional relief from feeling overwhelmed and powerless. We can retool it to address fundamental needs, building trust in self, and developing skills to navigate stressful situations.

660- Paper Presentation - The Implementation of Suicide Prevention Gatekeeper Training in British Columbia: A Focused EthnographyIn response to rising suicide rates in British Colum-bia, Canada, the Ministry of Health provided fund-ing and direction to the Canadian Mental Health Association – British Columbia Division to imple-ment two standardized gatekeeper training pro-grams with the aim of training 20,000 citizens over a 3-year period. Using focused ethnography, we ex-plored how the provincial implementation process

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PRESENTATION DESCRIPTIONSunfolded from multiple perspectives. Data sources included individual and group interviews, field ob-servations, and document analyses. Findings sug-gest that the implementation of suicide prevention gatekeeper training is a complex relational process marked by negotiations among stakeholders, nav-igation of tensions, assumptions, and competing knowledge claims. Community readiness, diverse geographies, and variable resources, served to constrain or facilitate implementation. Observa-tions of training activities suggest that ‘suicide’ is typically constructed as singular and knowable, with ‘gatekeepers’ positioned as those who ‘pass the suicidal person on’ to a community member holding ‘greater expertise.’ Implications for future policy, practice and research are offered.

700- Harm-Reduction Approach to Self-harm: Thoughts from a SurvivorThinking of self-harm as an indicator of suicide, there is much potential for focusing on self-harm to prevent suicide. Learning Objectives: A. Dis-cuss how a self-harm harm-reduction approach can help. Kay Inckle has done work in this area in United Kingdom. From a lived experience per-spective, being told I have to stop self-harming in order to receive therapeutic help or not allowed to talk about it in group settings causes self-harm to be highly stigmatizing and shameful (we know shame increases risk of self-harm). Shame from the stigma and few places to talk about it can build up to thinking about suicide and/or other more harmful escapes like binge drinking and street drugs; B. outline a harm reduction approach. Most importantly, I recommend that it involves a trained psychologist alongside a person with demonstrated knowledge in the area as well as lived experience with self-harm and suicide.

710- Workshop - Now What? Practical Tools to Promote Meaning Making Among Long-Term Loss SurvivorsThe suicide bereavement journey tends to be rather consuming in the initial weeks and months following the loss – those mourning their loved one may find themselves preoccupied with the death and the circumstances surrounding it as well as the effort to understand how to move forward without their loved one physically present. Over time, the

focus of the bereavement experience shifts and many loss survivors question how to integrate the loss into their life moving forward. The effort to make sense of a generally senseless death may lead loss survivors down a variety of paths, includ-ing paths that raise questions about the identity of the loss survivor, the relationship to the person who died, and the significance the experience will hold for the future. This workshop is intended for loss survivors who are more than 2-years post-loss and find themselves questioning ‘now what?’ as well as professionals and peer supporters who work with loss survivors over time. The workshop will be facilitated by a long-term loss survivor who is also a clinician and researcher. Through exam-ples and practical tools, this workshop will address how to make meaning making understandable and accessible to loss survivors who are perhaps questioning the meanings that they have about the loss. In particular, the workshop will focus on how meanings shift over time and the significance of these shifts. The workshop will provide examples of experiential activities that can assist loss survivors in reflecting on their loss experience, the range of meanings encountered throughout the journey, and the ways in which the experience and meanings made may be used constructively in the future.

720- Workshop - Sustainable Peer-Led Suicide Bereavement Support InitiativesThis workshop presents the story of a support group for survivors of suicide loss – its inception by a peer/professional leader, its evolution and growth, and its transition to solely peer-leader-ship. The creator/facilitator of the group relocated in 2016, and there was a purposeful and careful transition to ensure the group had a solid founda-tion to endure the transition period and emerge as a self-sustaining program. The transition period focused on providing training and additional sup-ports for individuals who were more than 2-years post-loss and had been attending the group for a period of at least 6 months at some point during that time period. Specifically, an introductory training on peer support was offered to those who were interested in learning more about how to pro-vide one-on-one support to other loss survivors. Additionally, a full-day training on general group facilitation and the facilitator’s model was pro-

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PRESENTATION DESCRIPTIONSvided to those who were interested in supporting group facilitation. And finally, a specialized ‘beyond surviving’ group was held for group members who identified that they had transitioned from attend-ing the group for their own bereavement needs to attending the group to support others. This workshop will discuss the theory and research that informed the actions taken during the transition period. Specific strategies and ideas for sustain-able peer-led group facilitation based on current research will be shared. The workshop will discuss lessons learned that may be helpful to others who are interested in beginning or further developing peer-led bereavement initiatives.

725- Paper Presentation - The Canadian Suicide Ex-posure Study: Understanding the Impact of Suicide in CanadaIn Canada and throughout the world, suicide receives little attention in public health, policy, and research initiatives. Where suicide exposure is the focus of attention, most research includes treatment-seeking samples of kin, narrowing our understanding of exposure and its impact to solely be synonymous with bereavement. However, large-scale datasets are beginning to emerge in the US, the UK, and Australia, providing critically important information to further our understanding of the broad scope of suicide exposure and the needs of those impacted. The Canadian Suicide Exposure Study is the first of its kind to provide Canada-spe-cific data examining the breadth and depth of the nature and impact of exposure to suicide. This presentation will offer preliminary results from the study, an online survey of a convenience sample of adults residing in Canada, to examine exposure to suicide attempts, suicide deaths, and the impact of these exposures on functioning and well-being of participants. Preliminary findings will also be shared regarding the service utilization of respon-dents post-exposure, the resources frequently used to cope with exposure, benefits and limita-tions of available services, and gaps in services for vulnerable communities. Implications for future policy, research, and practice initiatives will also be shared

730- Paper Presentation - Suicide Assessment: Awareness of Client Experience Offers Hope for Change Limited research explores a client’s experience of suicide-risk assessment, as conducted by nurses. Yet, hearing the client’s voice to understand suicide risk care is essential to provide a hopeful, ther-apeutic relationship. Post suicide-risk guideline implementation in a mental health setting, this mixed-method, cross-sectional design investigated clients’ and nurses’ experience of practice congru-ence with guideline recommendations, inclusive of assessment for hope. A quantitative, chart audit instrument measured evidence of congruence (n = 33). Two qualitative approaches investigated clients experiences (individual interviews, n = 9) and nurs-es’ perspectives (three focus groups, n = 13) of risk and hopefulness assessment. Data triangulation revealed practice congruence with and divergence from recommendations. Thematic analysis of narratives revealed the theme of a ‘dance’ between clients and nurses in the decision made by one, to approach the other, regarding suicidality. This pre-sentation focuses on client narratives that inform clinician awareness to understand the complexity of hopeful therapeutic relationships in suicide risk assessment.

740- Artwork - The Boys of NunavutThe Movember Foundation has released a short documentary about the Circumpolar Young Hunters Program, entitled, “The Boys of Nunavut”. The au-dience will learn how a community of elders, local guides and a doctor came together with an idea to address the suicide epidemic that has ravaged the Nunavut region of Northern Canada. The film de-scribes a land-based, culturally-relevant approach to mental health that is saving the lives of count-less young Inuit boys.

750-Poster - Engaging Men to Take Action about their Mental HealthThree out of 4 suicides are men. Two contributing factors to this stark reality are: 1) men are reluc-tant to discuss their health or how they feel about the impact of significant life events; and 2) men are reluctant to take action when they don’t feel physically or mentally well. These behaviours can be linked to the pressure placed on men to appear

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PRESENTATION DESCRIPTIONSstrong and stoic, when not talking about their health puts them at risk. Based on the Movember Foundation’s investments in men’s mental health in Canada over the past 10 years, the poster/sto-ryboard will share the lessons learned on what effectively works to engage men to seek help early thus improving their mental health.

760- Poster - The Strength Within: Suicide Preven-tion in Northern BC Indigenous CommunitiesThe Strength Within uses a community based approach to support community wellbeing and suicide prevention among Indigenous adults (25-45 years old) living in Northern BC. Strength based, culturally based, and land based strategies are used to address suicide awareness, education, and support. We will present on community engage-ment strategies, the development of a wellbeing promotion and suicide prevention intervention, intervention implementation, and participant perspectives. The Strength Within has demonstrat-ed promise as a culturally appropriate community wellbeing and suicide prevention intervention that supports communities to acknowledge the strengths within self, family, community, nation, and land to take preventative action at a local lev-el. Learning Objectives: A. Increased understand-ing and awareness of mental health research and suicide prevention within the context of Northern Indigenous communities in BC; B. increased under-standing and awareness of culturally appropriate strategies to address suicide awareness, education, and support within the context of Northern Aborigi-nal communities in BC.

770- Paper Presentation & Discussion/Consulta-tion - What Could We Learn rrom Coroners Reports? An Example from Ottawa and Discussion About How Other Communuities Could Use Coroners Data in Suicide PreventionCoroners expend considerable effort and resourc-es investigating suicides but this is rarely used to inform prevention initiatives. We will present a chart review of coroner data from 2010 to 2014 of suicides in Ottawa (n=381). We will use this as an example of the type of work that could generate ideas about suicide prevention in local commu-nities. Objectives of the Ottawa data are to utilize

geo-mapping to highlight areas where people who died by suicide reside, to describe similar groups of people who die by suicide and to create a check-list for coroner investigations in Ontario. Recom-mendations from the current research will aid in influencing local public health policies to inform prevention measures, improve care of suicidal people in Ontario hospitals and standardize data collection by coroners. We will invite discussion about the different ways in which death investiga-tions could be usefully used in suicide prevention.

780 – Paper Presentation - Evaluating a Personal-ized Approach for the Treatment of Mental Health Disorders in First RespondersLifetime prevalence rates of PTSD among First Responders (FRs) are far greater than the general population. FRs also report elevated rates of de-pression, anxiety, alcohol abuse and suicidality. A three-phase research plan was designed in collab-oration with FR representatives and organizations: Phase 1 includes a needs assessment and qualita-tive interviews of the City of Ottawa’s Tri-Services to identify preferences for mental health treat-ment, access to care and identification of barriers while establishing a FR Operational Stress Injury (OSI) Clinic. Phase 1 will guide the design of a pilot RCT of the FR OSI Clinic (Phase 2). Phase 2 will as-sess the acceptability and feasibility of: setting up a FR OSI Clinic using a FR Mental Health Team; and the design and implementation of a preventative pre-screening method using two different intake assessments. Results of both phases will inform a full-scale RCT (Phase 3).

790- Paper Presentation - Hatching Best Practices for Patient Engagement in Patient-Oriented Re-search in Mental HealthThe importance of involving people with lived experience (PWLE) within healthcare and service delivery research improves not only the quality of research, but also the relevance of its findings. Engaging PWLE in mental health research is accom-panied by additional challenges: 1) re-traumatizing people; 2) mental health directly affecting how people think; and 3) stigma. Due to the sensitive nature of suicide prevention research, researchers

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PRESENTATION DESCRIPTIONSmust also be prepared to handle difficult conversa-tions which may be triggering. The Hatching Ideas Lab has engaged PWLE in all phases of research. We hosted REFLECT 2017: A Collaborative Research Institute in Suicide Prevention, designed in consort with PWLE, clinicians and researchers. As an out-come of REFLECT, we are developing best practice guidelines on how to conduct patient-oriented research with various underserved and high-risk populations while respecting and reflecting the value of the wealth of expertise PWLE possess and can contribute in the right setting

820- Panel - Roots of Hope: A Community Suicide Prevention ProjectSuicide is a major public health issue and leading cause of death in Canada. To try to reduce the im-pacts of suicide in Canada, the Mental Health Com-mission of Canada (MHCC) has launched a five-year, multi-site project entitled Roots of Hope: A Com-munity Suicide Prevention Project. This community based initiative builds on existing evidence-based approaches used nationally and internationally. The goal of the project is to develop an evidence base, including best practices and suicide preven-tion resources. Community leaders can tailor the project components to respond to local priorities and needs. Roots of Hope focuses on five key areas, including: specialized supports, training and networks, public awareness campaigns, means re-striction and research. It is hoped that this project will lead to a greater understanding of suicide and its prevention in the Canadian context. This panel presentation will highlight the work and experience to-date of Roots of Hope participating communi-ties.

830- Panel - Community Empowerment and Collab-oration in Mental Health and Addictions: Creating Change and Hope on the Burin PeninsulaIn the spring of 2017, concerned about the loss of many community members to suicide and asking for help, the Mayor of Grand Bank NL reached out to Eastern Health (16 known suicides in 9 months, while Mental Health and Addictions Services had a lengthy waiting list, and access to Psychiatry was limited). Eastern Health, in partnership with the Provincial Primary Health Care Division of the Government of NL, committed to working with the communities through community consultations,

support of a primary health care approach, and the implementation of a quality improvement process. A stakeholder group was established (community groups, organizations, health staff, and people with lived experience) and was instrumental in supporting and encouraging change. This session will highlight how the stakeholder group guided change through collaboration, which has resulted in a Mental Health and Addictions Service which has open access, where everyone is a priority, and there is no waiting list. The highlight thus far in the process is that there have been zero known suicides in the last 6 months.

840 – Workshop - Suicide Prevention: How Public Health Builds Suicide-Safer CommunitiesIn response to emerging needs in the community, Ottawa Public Health (OPH) has been one of the leading Health Units in Ontario addressing mental health promotion and suicide prevention. OPH made history, when in 2015, the City of Ottawa became the first municipality in Canada and the largest in the world to offer safeTALK: Suicide Alert-ness for Everyone workshops to its 17,000 employ-ees, volunteers, and learners. The implementation of safeTALK, the development of procedures and policies to support its implementation, and the Suicide Prevention Guideline are just a few of the key deliverables of the Suicide-Safer Ottawa proj-ect. How did we get here? Let us share this with you via an interactive workshop – an overview of the Suicide-Safer Ottawa and safeTALK Implementation projects will be provided, including discussion on background, political influences, implementation, evaluation, and lessons learned.

850- Panel - Stories of Survivorship: The Place and Purpose of Stories in Making Sense and Meaning after a Suicide Attempt and Suicide LossAfter difficult experiences, such as surviving a suicide attempt or suicide loss, we embark on a process to sort through and make sense of it. A primary purpose of this process is to find a way to reinterpret the world and beliefs that accords with this experience, ideally coming to terms with a sto-ry that is not so disruptive to everyday life. Sharing the story with others is an important element in this process, as it allows a person to give words to the experience and receive recognition and

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PRESENTATION DESCRIPTIONSvalidation. Through meaningful engagement with this process, our stories of survival can be used to help us navigate a way forward, and importantly, can also be used as a signal of hope for others. This panel will begin with research on a typology of suicide loss survivor narratives. Suicide attempt and loss survivors will share narratives of their ex-perience and stories of survival with an emphasis on meaning making. The panel will conclude with points about sense and meaning making at various points along the journey following suicide attempt or loss.

860 - Roundtable - Life Promotion: Reconnecting Back to the LandOur session will have a presentation about our pro-gram as follows, and questions for the group led discussions: The Indigenous Cultural programming at Marymound aims to give children and youth the necessary skills, knowledge and experiences in land, language and culture to help retain and regenerate land based practices. This is achieved though, ceremonies, Elder teachings, mentoring and physical activity. We at Marymound are lead-ers in sustaining cultural preservation by acknowl-edging history and responding with reconciliation by reconnecting youth to cultural wholeness through relationships, reciprocity, family, kinship, and spirituality. Youth play a lead role in strength-ening inter-generational relations – and we have a responsibility to help nurture and harvest a gener-ation of leaders that will redefine and strengthen existing relationships between peoples in Canada. Marymound is innovative in Cultural reclamation. The Cultural Team promotes respect, self-esteem, pride, inclusion and recognition of diversity. We are fostering youth leadership through the sacred laws of health, happiness, generation, generosity, compassion, respect and quietness.

870 – Panel - Promoting Life Together: Inspiring Hope, Meaning, Purpose and BelongingThis panel will explore how culture contributes to mental wellness and life promotion. Panelists include Qalipu Mi’kmaq First Nation Band and Western Health. Panelists will share their personal and professional experiences shifting from suicide prevention to life promotion. Examples will include both health and indigenous perspectives. Examples will show how the connections between health and Mi’kmaq groups have served to improve access to

supports in both systems and improve the continu-um of care for indigenous people. Western Health will highlight efforts to increase cultural competen-cy among staff and the service changes as a result. Highlights will include examples across of range of mental health and addiction services from preven-tion/promotion to clinical areas. From an indige-nous perspective, Qalipu will highlight examples of life promotion through cultural practices, ceremony and teachings (ex: feather teaching). Panelists will highlight the Feathers Carriers project as an ex-ample of health working together with indigenous people to promote.

880 – Paper Presentation - Preventing Suicide in Veterans: Highlights from the CAF-VAC Joint Suicide Prevention StrategyThe CAF-VAC Joint Suicide Prevention Strategy pro-vides a common framework for suicide prevention activities in both Military and Veteran populations. Addressing the factors that influence suicide, this presentation will summarize the Strategy, focus on military to civilian transition, and describe ongo-ing efforts by Veterans Affairs Canada to prevent suicide. Learning Objectives: 1. At the conclusion of this activity, participants will be able to describe the 7 lines of effort under which the CAF-VAC Joint Suicide Prevention Strategy is organized. 2. At the conclusion of this activity, participants will be able to identify opportunities for intervention to prevent suicide in Canadian Armed Forces Veterans. 3. At the conclusion of this activity, participants will be able to explain the activities that occur in the prevention, intervention, and postvention periods of the suicide prevention continuum.

890 – Workshop - Addressing Suicidal Behaviour in Transitional-Aged Young Adults.In this session, participants will be introduced to the Skills for Safer Living (SFSL/PISA) program at Stella’s Place, a community mental health centre for 16-29 year old young adults that offers recov-ery programming within an integrated peer and clinical model. Stella’s Place has adapted the SFSL curriculum to meet the needs of young adults who have had at least one previous suicide attempt, and are willing to engage with the possibility of living life more safely. We operate on the value of young adult experiences and feedback through our peer engagement, co-design process, focus groups,

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and evaluation framework. This approach allows us to provide suicide intervention programming for young adults that feels relevant and engaging to the participants we serve. We will discuss our re-flections and successes of offering the SFSL to this population alongside our DBT programming, and explain how this overall model is having an impact on the young adults we serve who are experiencing recurrent suicide attempts.

900 – Workshop - Suicide Prevention when Medical Assistance in Dying is an Option: Should Some Deaths be Accepted or Encouraged Rather than Being PreventedSuicide prevention services do their utmost to prevent suicides with all persons, regardless of the suicidal individual’s characteristics and reasons given for wanting to die. Their assumption is that doing otherwise constitutes discrimination, and they would venture into an ethical morass if they attempt to determine whether some lives are more worthy of saving than others. However, Canada now permits Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID) under some circumstances, where a person’s life can be ended upon demand, if the eligibility requirements are met. In this context, should we continue to strive to prevent all suicides, or are there some sit-uations where we should abstain from preventing a

death by suicide or even encourage people to seek MAID? This workshop explores the ethical, clinical and practical implications of the Canadian MAID legislation and its implications for suicide pre-vention. We explore whether there is a difference between MAID and suicide, if some suicides can be considered “rational,” as well as ways to balance respect for autonomy and suicide prevention practices. We will also discuss future parliamen-tary decisions about expanding access to MAID for physically health persons with a mental disorder as the sole underlying condition.

950- Workshop - Suicidal Crisis Intervention : Back to Basics.Caplan (1964) defined the Crisis as a relatively short period of psychological unbalance for a person confronted with an event, perceived as dangerous, that he/she/they can’t avoid nor resolve with their habitual problem-solving resources. The workshop will offer an opportunity to re-center suicide crisis intervention to the basic understanding of the concept of Crisis and re-visit the possible strate-gies of intervention associated with different levels of suicidality. Intervening at any level, allows for the possibility of deescalating the episode thus offering alternatives for resolution in an effort to avoid hospital visits.

Downtown St. John’s. Photo by CucombreLibre (Flickr)

Suicide and mental illness are deeply connected.

Le suicide et la maladie mentale sont étroitement liés.

Together, We accelerate change.

Learn more, visit: mentalhealthcommission.ca

Ensemble, Nous accélérons le changement.

En savoir plus : commissionsantementale.ca

The MHCC is uniquely positioned to champion mental health issues and also to support others who take up the call. As part of our commitment, we will continue to develop a suite of resources on life promotion and suicide prevention, including:

La CSMC est dans une position unique pour promouvoir les questions de santé mentale et soutenir ceux qui viennent en aide aux autres. Dans le cadre de notre engagement, nous continuerons à élaborer un éventail de ressources sur la promotion de la vie et la prévention du suicide, notamment :

Suicide is a serious public health issue that impacts individuals, families, and communities. It is one of the top 10 causes of death in Canada, and among youth, it is the second leading cause of death after car accidents. Yet suicide is preventable through community action, education, increased awareness and sharing hope.

Grave problème de santé publique, le suicide affecte les individus, les familles et les communautés. Il représente l’une des 10 principales causes de décès au Canada et, chez les jeunes, la 2e cause de décès après un accident de voiture. Pourtant, le suicide peut être évité grâce à l’action communautaire, à l’éducation, à la sensibilisation accrue et au partage de l’espoir.

Online modules for family physicians and nurses

Modules en ligne pour les médecins de famille et le personnel infirmier

#ShareHope, an online platform for the public to share positive messages

#PartagezEspoir, une plateforme en ligne permettant au public de partager des messages positifs

Roots of Hope: A community suicide prevention project that aims to reduce the

impacts of suicide across Canada

Enraciner l’espoir : un projet communautaire de prévention du suicide visant à réduire les effets du suicide au Canada

Webinar series and helpful toolkits

Série de webinaires et trousses d’outils

8363 CSMC - SP Toolkit - CASP Conference.indd 1 2018-09-24 13:42

We’ll helpyou throughthis. Doorways is a single session, walk-in

counselling service available province-wide for youth and adults. Service is provided on a first-come, first-serve basis. No referral or appointment is needed.

Doorways est un service de counseling en séance unique sans rendez-vous offert aux jeunes et aux adultes partout dans la province. Le service est fourni selon le principe du premier arrivé, premier servi. Aucun renvoi n’est requis.

pour savoir où ce service est offert près de vous.Composez le

Panton 255C

to find a location near you.Call

Panton 255C

Nous vous aiderons à vous en sortir.

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The Sheraton Floorplan

Note: Marconi, Viking and Columbus Suites are located on the first floor, please see signage.

guiding the way to suicide awareness, and support...2 platinum level – $45,000 silver level –...

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