Best Practice Strategies for the Prevention of Youth Suicide

Suicide is a tragedy and a concerning global issue. The impact of a young person’s suicide on their whanau, friends and wider community is devastating, and can have serious emotional, financial and economic consequences. Many young people are at high risk, with New Zealand youth suicide rates ranking in the top 2 OECD countries. Research shows mixed results about the effectiveness of suicide prevention strategies. This reflects the complexity of the issue itself and of the issues young people face when they contemplate suicide. This paper sets out best practice strategies for people working with young people who may be considering suicide. For youth workers and helpline volunteers, best practice involves recognising warning signs of suicide, encouraging help seeking and referring young people to appropriate services. For clinical workers and health promoters, the most effective prevention strategies appear to be those which utilise a multifactor approach to create targeted ‘wraparound’ support for young people at risk. Population stats  Worldwide, close to 1 million lives are lost to suicide each year [1]  In New Zealand, this number is around 500 lives per year, with particular concern surrounding youth (124 lives in 2011) [2]  Compared with other OECD countries, New Zealand has the 2nd highest rates of both male and female youth suicide deaths [2]  New Zealand youth suicide deaths have declined since their peak in 1995 (from 156 deaths in 1995 to 124 deaths in 2011) [2]  However, suicide still accounted for a quarter of all youth deaths in 2011 and was the leading cause of death for youth for that year [2]