Knowledge Bank

The Ohio State University Suicide Prevention Program (OSU SPP) capitalizes on a relationship-based approach to address the tragedy of suicide in our campus community through the promotion of advocacy, education, and outreach. By cultivating a culture of caring and and endorsing suicide prevention as a shared campus responsibility, OSU SPP engages its campus partners in identifying and reaching students who are at risk. Suicide is the second leading cause of death for college students (Turner, Leno, & Keller, 2013). OSU SPP's mission is to address this epidemic through the development of a comprehensive, effective, culturally responsive, technologically advanced, and sustainable system of suicide prevention at the Columbus and five regional campuses of Ohio State. In our campus community, OSU SPP collaborates though more than 70 key partnerships with support services and campus groups. These interprofessional partnerships facilitate open communication, and mobilize campus resources in a cohesive effort to identify and support students at risk for suicide. OSU SPP takes a grass-roots approach in partnering with individual academic departments and programs, and providing suicide gatekeeper trainings to all levels of students and employees on campus. Inclusion of faculty, staff, and administrations in suicide prevention efforts infuses a culture of care within separate academic entities and encourages stake-holders to adopt a holistic approach to student wellness. Nationally, OSU SPP partners with the American Foundation of Suicide Prevention to provide an Interactive Screening Program (ISP) to student veterans and graduate students on campus, two groups at elevated risk for suicide. In 2018, the RUOK? Veterans and RUOK? Buckeyes initiatives invited more than 1,000 student veterans and more than 8,000 graduate students to participate in the ISP program. These services provide respondents an opportunity to dialogue anonymously and securely with a licensed professional counselor online to discuss their needs and access information about campus resources. OSU SPP is committed to student development, and engages student allies in suicide prevention through student organizations Peers REACHing Out (PROs) and Buckeyes Campaign Against Suicide (BCAS). In times of crisis, students are most likely to turn to close friends for help. Members in these groups are sensitively trained in how to respond to at-risk students, and empower their peers through programming and campus events. Engaging student organizations in suicide prevention efforts increases student investment, and embeds suicide prevention gatekeepers in the student community where peers in distress are most likely to turn for support.

AUTHOR AFFILIATION: Sarah Clapp, graduate administrative assistant, Ohio State Suicide Prevention Program, sarahjoyceclapp@gmail.com (Corresponding Author); Shelby Messerschmitt-Coen, graduate administrative assistant, Ohio State Suicide Prevention Program, Ohio State Office of Military and Veteran Services; Maria Lammy, graduate administrative assistant, Ohio State Suicide Prevention Program