Annual Report
Suicide among Guam's youth is significantly higher than in the United States.
In 2017, 22% of all suicide deaths on Guam were individuals ages 10-24, approximately 26% of the island population.
Estimated number of people to be served during grant lifetime: 13550
The Guam Focus on Life Program (GFOL) Program aims to increase suicide prevention, intervention and postvention skills among direct service providers and natural helpers, to break the stigma of suicide on mental health and help-seeking, and to improve the standards of suicide-safe care for at risk youth ages 10-24.
Guam received the GLS suicide prevention grant in 2009-2015, which built awareness in the community about suicide and capacity among youth-serving organizations and direct service providers to respond to youth identified with suicide ideation and behaviors. Over 4,000 gatekeepers were trained in intervention skills. Youth were being referred to community-based mental health care; however, an effective continuity of care was lacking. There is still a need to improve the transitions between service providers to ensure positive patient outcomes through suicide-safer care and after care.
The heavy emphasis on indicated prevention strategies focused efforts mostly on individuals with active suicidal thoughts and behaviors and missed opportunities for early identification of individuals who are experiencing grief, by natural helpers who have immediate influence and access to promote help-seeking behaviors. Guam Behavioral Health and Wellness Center, the single state agency for mental health and substance use, will use the 2019 GLS funds to expand and improve selected prevention strategies, to include these missed opportunities.
GFOL staff at the We Silent Veterans Suicide Awareness Wave on March 26, 2021.
Youth and young adults (age 10-24) who are experiencing grief and feelings of pain and loss, or having suicidal thoughts and behaviors openly seeks help from natural helpers and appropriate behavioral health service
Key OBJECTIVES:
1) 100 natural helpers will be trained each year to identify and refer individuals experiencing grief and feelings of loss and pain to appropriate services.
2) By 2024, Guam's revised Youth Suicide Strategic Preventional and Intervention Plan for a suicide-safer community will incorporate epidemiological inferences based on qualitative data offered by individuals with lived experience, including youth and adult survivors of loss and suicide attempts.
3) In Years 2-5, three evidence-based programs will be implemented that normalize positive coping skills and increase help-seeking behavior among youth screened as "at risk" from Guam's public school system, emergency departments, psychiatric in-or-out-patient units, and other child and youth support organizations.
Guam Behavioral Health and Wellness Center GBHWC, the island's mental health agency, transform its culture and services to achieve excellence in providing patient safety and safer suicide care.
Key OBJECTIVES:
1) By 2024, GBHWC's ability to address the seven core elements of suicide-safer care in its approach to behavioral health services, based on the Zero-Suicide Framework (ZSF), will reach at least a target rating of "4=Near Comprehensive Practices are in Place".
2) By 2024, GBHWC will have tracked a 4-year implementation record of its Zero Suicide Plan.
3) By 2024, GBHWC, as a member of the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (NSPL) network, will operate a local suicide prevention lifeline that will receive at least 70% of NSPL calls from the island.
Guam's service providers operate in an integrated system of care that safely responds to individuals at risk for suicide.
Key OBJECTIVES:
1) By 2024, Guam will have a 30-person Suicide Prevention Task Force that includes representatives from direct youth-serving providers, first responders, and community members like individuals with lived experience, including survivors of loss, survivors of suicide attempts, youth, and families, which work towards processes and protocols within and among organizations that are suicide-safer and integrated to other services.
2) By 2024, at least 75% of key direct service staff from GBHWC, and as identifies by Guam Memorial Hospital (GMH), Division of Child Protective Services/Foster Care System (CPS), Guam Department of Education (GDOE), University of Guam's Isa Psychological Center (UOG-Isa), Guam Community College's Law Enforcement, Allied Health, and Human Services Academies (GCC) and Department of Youth Affairs (DYA) are trained to identify, screen, refer, treat and follow-up on individuals experiencing grief and feelings of loss and pain, or having suicidal thoughts and behaviors.
3) By 2024, GBHWC, as a member of the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (NSPL) network, will operate a local suicide prevention lifeline that will receive at least 70% of NSPL calls from the island.