news.boisestate.edu: November 14, 2002: SUICIDE PREVENTION PLANNING CONFERENCE IN SUN VALLEY

November 14, 2002

SUICIDE PREVENTION PLANNING CONFERENCE IN SUN VALLEY

The first-ever statewide conference to develop a suicide prevention plan for Idaho will be held Nov. 22-24 in the Sun Valley Inn and Lodge in Ketchum. Conference organizers expect 80 delegates from around the state to converge to create the initial draft of a suicide prevention plan for Idaho. The meeting will also be addressed by three nationally known speakers — Col. David Litts from the Office of the Surgeon General; Keri Lubell of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and Margaret West, from the Seattle office of the federal Human Resources and Services Administration (HRSA).

Suicide Prevention Advocacy Network-Idaho (SPAN-Idaho) president John Hanks said, "This is a wonderful opportunity to bring together people from all over Idaho to address the issue of suicide." Delegates come from a broad spectrum of citizens who represent the interests of youth, the elderly, Native Americans and Hispanics, suicide survivors, mental health consumers and professionals, clergy, educators and other service providers.

Thirteen other states have already created their own suicide prevention plans. Idaho’s suicide rate is typically one-third above the national average.

The conference is co-sponsored by Idaho Suicide Prevention and the Idaho affiliate of SPAN. It is also receiving financial support from Boise State University’s nursing department and Family Studies Center; the Centers for Disease Control; First Lady Patricia Kempthorne’s Generation of the Child program; the Whittenberger Foundation; the Idaho Psychiatric Association; pharmaceutical companies including Pfizer, Forest, McNeil, Abbott, Eli Lilly, Novardis and AstraZeneca; Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center; Emergency Medicine of Idaho; and the Idaho Student Nurses Association. This conference follows up last year’s "Suicide Prevention: Attitudes, Skills, Knowledge" symposium, held on the campus of Boise State University and attended by more than 350 people.

For more information on suicide in Idaho, including media guidelines, contact www.boisestate.edu/suicideprevention.

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Contacts:

Cynthia Clark

Boise State nursing department

(208) 426-3589

cclark@boisestate.edu

Peter Wollheim

Boise State communication department

(208) 426-3532

(208) 573-0666

pwollhe@boisestate.edu