Winter 2004
This Issue Contains a QPR Progess Report, .

First, a progress report. QPR continues to flourish across America. The Institute has never been busier and, thanks to all of you, suicide prevention education is marching forward with ever greater strides. Consider the following:

  • Approximately one year ago QPR Institute launched its University Suicide Risk Reduction Program. Among the early adopters are the following: The University of Kentucky, Texas A&M, The University of Oregon, Southern Methodist University, Southern Connecticut University, and Eastern Washington State University. Several more colleges and universities have expressed interest and/or are waiting for training. If anyone is interested in a full description of the university program, please email us. To see an abbreviated version click here.
  • The FBI will now be teaching QPR at its leadership school in Quantico, Virginia.
  • 35 US Air Force Chaplains and Chaplains Assistance have been trained as Certified QPR Instructors and will be taking the program to their bases around the world.
  • Under a foundation grant QPR will be tested as an EAP health and safety training program in three major US corporations in January.
  • Working with Kira LeCompte of the Indian Health Service (a QPR Instructor) we are planning to shoot a Native American version of the QPR trigger video to enhance cultural relevance and, thus, suicide prevention program acceptance.

The QPR Institutional Suicide Risk Reduction Program has been installed in five more National Association of Therapeutic Schools and Programs (NATSAP) hospitals, mental health centers and agencies during two days of training this past October hosted by Island View Residential Treatment Center in Syracuse, Utah.

This past Fall, Paul LeBuffe (QPR Institute Master Trainer) of the Devereux Foundation presented his organization’s findings and outcomes with the QPR Institutional Suicide Risk Reduction Program as installed and maintained over the past six years in more than 47 Devereux sites throughout the country.
Take the time to read an interesting article entitled Assisted Suicide in Hawaii, by Herbert Hendin, M.D. and Kathleen Foley, M.D. You can find this article on the AFSP.org website.

Since our last newsletter, 120 more QPR Certified Gatekeeper Instructors have been trained in 8 states.

Please welcome new Instructors from NATSAP, the University of Oregon, the U.S. Air Force Chaplains, Dubois County Public Schools, the Mental Health Association of South Carolina and 60 new Instructors hosted by Eleanor Edmunds with AFSP/Montana Chapter.
If you haven’t recently visited the QPR website, please do! New information is continually being added to assist you in your training effort.
Dr. Paul Quinnett has published an article on distance learning opportunities for worldwide suicide prevention which can be found at Globaled.com (click on authors).
The QPR Institute wishes to acknowledge the U.S. Armed Forces and their families for their efforts in the Middle East.

John’s Story.
This is a true story from America’s heartland, written by the mother and sister of a young man who, despite their heroic efforts to get him the help he needed, encountered what appears to be an all too common problem across the country; a healthcare system unable and/or unwilling to recognize the seriousness of a suicide crisis and respond in a helpful fashion. The names of the family members, hospital and counselor have all been omitted for reasons of confidentiality.

We provide you with John’s Story in part because a recent study by published by T.B. Newman in the British Medical Journal (327 7429: 1424-1427), found that the power of a story to change attitudes and behaviors to advance public health efforts often exceeds that of statistics. To quote Newman, “Stories are compelling because they describe particularly tragic outcomes and because they seem to offer a solution -- a way to extract some meaning and redemption from tragedy by preventing its reoccurrence. And, what makes stories so powerful? Firstly, the brains of human beings seem built to process stories better than other forms of input. Secondly, the storytellers themselves are important. It's not just that these awful things happened; it's that they happened to the person telling the story. This enables a connection with the listener or reader beyond what would be possible if the story were recounted by a dispassionate observer and it infuses the storyteller with a passion to tell the story over and over again, thus multiplying its influence.”

We hope John’s Story will help motivate all of us to create safer communities for suicidal persons.

John's Story

Message: If you have stories to tell when presenting QPR, do so!
QPR Instructor Toolkit Update

Winter 2004

When delivering QPR training, many of you have been asked about sexual orientation and suicide risk, especially in young people.

To assist you in fielding these questions, we wish to refer you to a research update published in the April, 2003 issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry by Madelyn S. Gould and her colleagues at Columbia University. This article reviews the past 10 years of research on epidemiology, risk factors and other useful areas in youth suicide prevention.

To help you answer questions about sexual orientation and suicide behavior, several recent cross-sectional and longitudinal epidemiological studies have reported that it appears suicidal behavior is mediated by the co-occurrence of clinical depression, alcohol abuse, family history of attempts, and victimization, not sexual orientation per se. In one national survey of 12,000 young people who reported same-sex sexual orientation conducted by Russell and Joyner in 2001, and reported in the American Journal of Public Health, the majority of youth surveyed reported no suicidality at all: 84% of males and 71.7% of females.

Thus, while the risk for suicidal behaviors is 2-6 times greater for homosexual and bisexual youths, it appears that it is the co-occurrence of other known risk factors that account for most of the increased risk. As you will recall from your training, at least 90% of completed suicides are persons suffering from Axis I psychiatric disorders. The one thing we do not want to do when teaching QPR is to inadvertently communicate that, “Of course he’s suicidal, he’s gay” but rather seek to to correct these prejudicial and harmful perceptions with the facts. And the facts are that it is clinical depression too often complicated by alcohol and drug use that precipitates fatal and non-fatal suicidal behaviors.
Keep up the wonderful and life-saving work!
The QPR Institute
P.O. Box 2867
Spokane, WA 99220
e-mail: qinstitute@uswest.net
www.qprinstitute.com
Phone: 888-726-7926