Holly C. Wilcox, Ph.D., M.A.
Professor, Johns Hopkins
Bloomberg School of Public Health

"Before the Crisis: A Community Conversation on Suicide Prevention"

Abstract: For decades, suicide prevention in the United States and around the world has focused mainly on identifying individuals at risk and treating them in healthcare settings. Yet suicide rates have not gone down. About 60% of young people who die by suicide never see a mental health professional, and most people who are struggling with suicidal thoughts will never receive care that research has shown to work.

Healthcare matters, but it can’t do this alone. We also need to reach people where they already are: in schools, workplaces, and neighborhoods, and on social media and AI chatbots. And we need to do a better job of putting what we already know into practice.

This talk makes the case for “upstream” prevention: acting early, and for everyone, to lower the risk across a whole community rather than waiting until someone is in crisis. It will show that programs that help children manage anger, impulsive behavior, and behavior problems also reduce suicidal behavior later in life, and that some of these programs save far more money than they cost. It will also look at the laws, policies, and data systems that make prevention possible, including policies that make it harder to access the most lethal means of suicide, and linked data that help us understand who is at risk and what works. It will conclude with what researchers, health officials, and policymakers can do to turn this evidence into action. There will be ample time for questions and discussion.

This event is co-sponsored with the Edna Bennett Pierce Prevention Research Center

Registration is required.