We had a productive meeting as we thought of community providers and events that we could attend to network with individuals that may be of assistance to us as we create and implement our project. Wendy and I (Sue) will be attending "Recover Day" which is an event held every year to raise awareness about addiction and mental health issues. This is a blurb about this event from the USARA website:
" This year’s theme,“Join the Voices for Recovery: Speak Up, Reach Out,” encourages people to openly speak up about mental and substance use disorders and the reality of recovery, and promotes ways individuals can use to recognize behavioral health issues and reach out for help. Recovery Day spreads the message that behavioral health is essential to overall health, that prevention works, treatment is effective and people can and do recover."
(http://myusara.com/events/recovery-day)
We thought this would be a great event to attend and connect with community providers that may be of assistance with our project. Wendy was going to help at the Veterans Associations "Stand Down" booth which targeted Homeless Vets that the VA is trying to get into services. She will connect with individuals from the VA. I was going to approach Mary Jo McMillen CEO of USARA (Utah Support Advocates for Recovery Awareness) to talk about suicide issues and substance use in Salt Lake County. In the next week or so Cynnamon will reach out to her contact on the Suicide Prevention Coalition for more information.
I love the format of your blog; nice job! I'm glad that you've started brainstorming key stakeholders to assess the problem of suicide in Salt Lake County. I encourage you to think more about your target population as well as your overall goal. Do you intend to focus on everyone in Salt Lake County or a more specific population? Also, do you intend to raise awareness about suicide among the general population or would you prefer to engage in activities to decrease suicide in the county? Finally, I encourage you to speak to those directly affected by suicide. What do they view as the needs around this issue? Overall, I'm excited to follow your progress this academic year! This is such an important topic.
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