Community Convening to Improve Research on Veteran Suicide Prevention
Far too often, research questions are developed by researchers without sufficient input from those whose health and wellness are the focus of the research. This initiative is designed to collaborate and hear from stakeholders who have the most insight and lived experience related to suicide among veterans. By hearing from them, along with healthcare providers and suicide prevention researchers, we can design more comprehensive engagement strategies for how to improve research on veteran suicide prevention.
To address the need to improve veteran suicide prevention research, we conducted the All Hands on Deck Community Convening on October 28-29th. Throughout these two days, we welcomed nearly 80 participants from across the country. The convening created an opportunity for concerned significant others (CSOs), including veterans, family members, spouses, friends, researchers, and providers, to engage in a series of discussions around suicide prevention, and how to better engage CSOs in future research and programming.
Work Groups
In our efforts to develop a Concerned Significant Other (CSO) Engagement Guide to improve future research practices, we are facilitating monthly, hour-long work groups, running from Dec 2020, through March 2021. These work groups will allow us to continue the conversations about how to better engage CSOs in veteran suicide prevention. Attendance is open to all individuals impacted by veteran suicide prevention (personally or professionally); we encourage you to join, any or all groups, even if you were not able to attend the convening.
If you are interested in joining these virtual monthly work groups, please contact Molly Platz: mplatz@austin.utexas.edu.
Partners
