Efforts to lower suicides continue
Porter County tackles prevention, awareness with assessment
While Porter County suicide trends have improved since 2017 when suicides were 50% higher than the national average of 14 suicides per 100,000 residents, county officials are working to bring the numbers down further.
In 2020 the Porter County suicide rate was 15.3 suicides per 100,000 residents, 13% above the national average, and two percentage points higher than the state average.
The Porter County Council was presented with these statistics, along with guidance for driving them lower, by Pyrce Healthcare Group, during a June 28 county council meeting. “We need it to be in the churches, we need it to be in the businesses. It cannot just be in behavioral health agencies,” said Jan Pyrce of the community effort to lower suicide.
Pryce is the founder and managing partner of the consulting group tasked by the Porter County Commissioners with conducting a suicide awareness and prevention assessment, for which the group was paid $25,000R in American Rescue Plan Act funds. For this task her agency conducted 38 interviews with individuals throughout county agencies, including schools, law enforcement, criminal justice, the recovery community, and state and local government.
The assessment was conducted from November 2021 to May 2022. Statistics from the Porter County Coroner’s Office, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and several databases were studied to understand Porter County suicide, overdose, and mental health service trends. Select research studies were also reviewed to highlight trends and models of community suicide awareness and prevention efforts.
In the years from 2012 to 2020 Porter County’s suicide rate has only been lower than the national average one year, in 2019, and then by only one-tenth of a percentage point. Through their interviews Pyrce’s group identified four key findings.
Stigma is a barrier to accessing help. “We need to make this speakable in the schools,” Pyrce said. “We don’t say someone committed suicide. We say someone died by suicide.”
Wait times for initial outpatient behavioral health appointments are too long, and there are challenges accessing inpatient behavioral health treatment. “I think some of the individuals we interviewed, their experiences were four- to six-week wait times to access those services,” Pyrce said. Two-thirds of those who attempt
suicide do not have formal contact with mental health professionals following their attempted suicides, Pyrce said.
Fragmentation of suicide awareness and prevention initiatives was the third finding, followed by challenges within the behavioral health workforce. “We want to make sure there’s countywide participation in these programs,” Pyrce said.
She gave five core recommendations to further the county’s suicide prevention efforts. 1. Further develop an integrated Porter County Suicide Awareness and Prevention Program accomplished by eight objectives. 2. Develop a public health model for suicide awareness and prevention. 3. Develop a 24/7/365 behavioral health crisis center. 4. Develop a suicide awareness and prevention peer support program with individuals with “lived experiences.” 5. Develop a suicide awareness and prevention program evaluation and outcomes structure.
Now the county will need to move from the theoretical to the concrete. “What would your suggestions be to help us out,” asked County Council Member Greg Simms, D-3rd District, at the end of the presentation. “When you looked at all your stuff, what recommendations do you have for us? How do we implement what you’re asking for?”
“I think you need to build an integrated structure,” Pyrce replied.
“How do we do that?” Simms asked. Some of her eight objectives had been specific, such as “Continue to develop and implement countywide stigma reduction programs,” while others read as vague, such as “Continue focus on integration of physical and mental health.”
“I think you have individuals who were involved in this report who would be very interested in doing that,” Pyrce said.
County Council President Jeremy Rivas, D-2nd District jumped in and mentioned the formation of a county mental health task force. “It would be that next conversation to get the key players involved that were involved with this, the key players for mental health in the county and working with the commissioners to see how they want to move in that direction,” Rivas said, mentioning such stakeholders as Valparaiso University and Porter-Starke Services.