Thematic Workshop for Sustainability

Thematic Workshop for Sustainability: support, acceptance and implementation of the draft/revised national strategy for suicide prevention

October 24th 2023, an online Thematic Workshop for Sustainability: support, acceptance and implementation of the draft/revised national strategy for suicide prevention was successfully organised by Work Package 4 and 6 of JA ImpleMENTAL. 

With the participation of JA ImpleMENTAL country teams and partners the workshop aimed to provide:

  • a platform for structured exchange of JA ImpleMENTAL partners and advisory bodies on the topic of sustainability
  • a common initial set of practical recommendations to promote sustainability nationally and across countries.
  • Information to promote and support sustainable implementation of nationally prioritized SUPRA-elements and also the successful implementation/revision of a national suicide prevention strategy during and after the Joint Action ImpleMENTAL.

The workshop commenced with greetings from Nina Bos, Trimbos Institute, Joy Ladurner and Mag. Alexander Grabenhofer-Eggerth from Gesundheit Österreich GmbH, Vasileia Konte JA ImpleMENTAL Coordinator from the Greek National Public Health Organization (NPHO). Vasileia Konte welcomed participants on behalf of the JA ImpleMENTAL consortium. She underlined that improving mental health is a team effort and synergies across member states and their key stakeholders are necessary and stressed that customising local needs as well as interprofessional and intersectoral collaboration are key to successful implementation. Realistic action plans must be designed based on activities which are focused, feasible and practical.

  • The workshop provided insights into ongoing mental health developments related to suicide prevention in Europe and outlined the sustainability outputs of JA ImpleMENTAL. Participants collectively sought to operationalize what sustainability means in the context of suicide prevention, with a special focus on the strategies being developed by countries within the framework of JA ImpleMENTAL.  Key take-aways included: Suicide prevention is embedded in the ongoing public discussions.
  • There is long term political support for suicide prevention.
  • Suicide prevention is embedded in different fields (which we also linked to importance of social determinants of health).
  • At the minimum the initiatives in a suicide prevention strategy are developed.
  • Identified long term outcomes.
  • Research and innovation on the topic of suicide prevention is promoted and facilitated.
  • Advisory boards are in place.

We learned from our guest speakers: Jesse van der Mijl (Program lead for the National Agenda Suicide Prevention in the Netherlands), John Meehan (Assistant National Director / Mental Health Planning and Head of National Office for Suicide Prevention Ireland),and Steve Platt (IASP) about the role of leaders, importance of evaluation, and what international efforts can bring on top of national efforts. They emphasized the necessity for a whole-government approach, monitoring and evaluation with defined intermediate outcomes, an outcome-focused strategy, and the significance of shared ownership.

The JA ImpleMENTAL Coordinator Vasileia Konte was asked to comment how do JA activities support leadership roles and how does that in turn support strategy implementation? What can country teams take away from this after the JA ends?

She mentioned that WP1 focuses on Building Networks, helping members to share knowledge and support one another, to have a clear vision of the JA implemental objectives and providing clear methods and guidance on how to achieve them such as the  Implementation strategy – Monitoring Framework.

She commented that it is not easy to establish a European team working together in such a short time and we all learn from our challenges and actively seek solutions to be implemented through PDSA cycles.

It is exciting to see that all of our JA ImpleMENTAL countries are inspired and passionately involved and work hard and with confidence to meet the goals and to implement the 25 pilots of the two best practices across Europe, engaging stakeholders, sharing knowledge and measuring progress. These are all examples of transformational leadership. We are contributing with a platform of exchanging ideas across Europe, keeping the momentum of political visibility that hopefully will ensure the sustainability of the impressive work of JA ImpleMENTAL.

  • Together, participants identified crucial elements for the acceptance and implementation of suicide prevention strategies, including: Importance of keeping a network, including JA ImpleMENTAL.
  • Leadership roles should not only be with one organisation.
  • Leadership that is bottom-up (e.g. through set-up of a helpline) can create a ‘’foot in the door’’.
  • Leadership that is top-down (e.g. from government) is important but the actual ground work are the drivers of action.
  • Clarifying responsibilities and monitoring in place so that implementation of activities is enforced.
  • Academic partners are crucial for research and data.
  • Political commitment e.g. through a policy entrepreneur or champion or collaboration with the ‘’deep-state’’.
  • Realistic budget estimates.

The workshop underscored several critical insights. Firstly, it emphasized that suicide prevention is a collective endeavour, involving the efforts of everyone in society because suicide prevention is everybody’s business. Secondly, it highlighted the necessity for continuous and localized approaches to sustainable suicide prevention strategies, recognizing that one size does not fit all. Thirdly, the workshop stressed the importance of fostering acceptance and a proactive willingness to seek and provide support for suicide prevention. Additionally, the significance of outcome-focused strategies, both in the short and long term were emphasized. Lastly, the workshop underlined the indispensable role of involving a diverse range of stakeholders, including individuals with lived experience, in shaping effective suicide prevention measures.

The workshop provided a great opportunity for network development and sharing experiences. The informative and interesting lectures enriched the dialogue, and navigated participants through the path from strategy support and approval to sustainable implementation and showcased methods and underlined the importance to engage decision-makers and stakeholders in the field.  Breakout room discussions provided a dynamic platform for checklist creation and the identification of vital elements for strategy approval and implementation.

For more information, please e-mail nbos@trimbos.nl

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Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Health and Digital Executive Agency (HADEA). Neither the European Union nor granted authority can be held responsible for them.