Hickenlooper signs 'zero suicide' bill into law
As suicide prevention advocates shed tears, Gov. John Hickenlooper signed into law Friday a bill crafted to curb Colorado's soaring suicide rate.
The bill created a Colorado suicide prevention plan within the Office of Suicide Prevention in the Department of Public Health and Environment, with a nod to the zero suicide model. Colorado is ranked seventh in the nation for suicide deaths, with a rate of 19.4 suicides for 100,000 residents.
The Associated Press reported that the bill signing "was an emotional one," with tears shed by attendees and two of the bill’s sponsors, Sen. Linda Newell and Rep. Brittany Pettersen, who lost their brothers to suicide.
According to the AP, Pettersen said the law is about saving not only lives but "saving families from going through this tragedy."
About the new law
What is zero suicide?
Zero suicide focuses on eliminating suicides among at-risk individuals receiving health or mental health care. More than 30 percent of those who died by suicide from 2009 to 2013 were receiving some form of mental health treatment when they died, according to the Colorado Violent Death Reporting System. According to a national study, 45 percent of those who die by suicide have seen a primary-care physician within a month of their death.
Isn't zero suicide a little optimistic?
According to a fact sheet provided by Newell, a Democrat representing part of Arapahoe County, "it is not expected that we will see no suicides altogether." The goal of the program is to reduce how many people at risk fall through the cracks while receiving physical and behavioral health care.
What agencies will be affected?
Health and behavioral health systems, including community mental health centers such as SummitStone Health Partners in Fort Collins, HMOs, hospitals, substance-abuse treatment facilities and statewide crisis services will be encouraged to adopt the zero-suicide model's seven pillars: leadership, training, identification, patient engagement, treatment, transition and quality improvement.
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Is this model being used anywhere else?
The national model, which identifies seven components to preventing suicide in health care systems, is used by hundreds of sites across the country, Julie Goldstein Grumet, director of health and behavioral health initiatives for the Suicide Prevention Resource Center, previously told the Coloradoan.
Is there any proof it works?
According to Newell's fact sheet, the zero-suicide model in other health care systems has reduced up to 80 percent of suicides of those receiving care.
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