Media: Announcing the Missouri Firearm Suicide Prevention Learning Cohort
ST LOUIS, MO
Most people in America understand that firearms can be dangerous, but they often underestimate the role firearms play in suicide. In Missouri, six out of every 10 suicides involve a firearm. Nationally, suicide is a public health crisis with rates rising more than 30% in 25 states between 1999 and 2016. Rates have increased among both sexes, all racial and ethnic groups, all age groups under 75, and in all geographic settings. In Missouri, suicide rates have grown even faster than the national average.
This crisis is why organizations across the state of Missouri are taking part in a two-year, collaborative learning experience with the intention of developing community-based strategies to address the issue – the Missouri Firearm Suicide Prevention Learning Cohort. Convened by Missouri Foundation for Health, this cohort is bringing together organizations from across the region. Each group will collect and analyze community data, listen to families and communities suffering in this crisis, and develop local, sustainable solutions for prevention.
“One of the main barriers to engaging local communities in addressing this issue is common misperceptions about the role firearms play in suicide rates,” says Jessi LaRose, a Senior Strategist at Missouri Foundation for Health. “This is why we’ve been working with the FrameWorks Institute to illuminate our assumptions and develop new ways to talk about the role communities can play in helping people in need.”
Learning cohort members will build on recent research conducted by FrameWorks and will be supported by a range of mental health and community engagement experts. The cohort is being facilitated by Openfields, a social innovation consulting firm, which will provide training in human centered design, focused strategic planning, and data analytics support for all participants.
The seven participating grantees are:
Behavioral Health Response
Bootheel Counseling Services
Community Partnership of the Ozarks
Compass Health Network
Missouri Institute of Mental Health/Family Counseling Center
Randolph County Caring Community Partnership
Shelby County Economic Development
The learning cohort is powered by Missouri Foundation for Health and is part of its Firearm Suicide Prevention initiative.
To learn more about this work, please contact Grady Powell at grady@openfields.com