By Sally Spencer-Thomas
Parts of this blog
republished in the International Association of Suicide Prevention’s Newsletter
While most of us in the field of Suicidology can see the
great benefits of enlisting employers to implement comprehensive approaches to
suicide, most employers are not quite ready. They are unfamiliar with the idea of
their role in suicide prevention and often find it initially daunting and
significantly out of their usual business endeavors. For these reasons, we need
to listen well, move slowly and let them lead.
Many well-meaning suicide prevention advocates
jump into the work of fixing something before they understand what the
obstacles to change are. The “Stages
of Change” model[1]
developed by Prochaska and DiClemente, informs us that in order to be
effective, we need to craft our strategy of change to the readiness of the
people or systems needing change.[2]
If the problem is not in awareness, they will not be motivated to take action.
If the problem is in their awareness but brings with it some big perceived
obstacles to change, they will not be motivated to take action. It’s only when
the perceived benefits of change outweigh the consequences of staying the same
that change happens. You know you are moving too fast in championing change,
when you get a lot of “yes, but” responses such as, “Yes, there may be mental
health issues at work, but no one has time/money/expertise (fill in the blank)
to deal with it.”
For these reasons, suicide prevention
advocates need to take time to listen to workplaces and find out how they are
being affected by suicidal behavior, before we prescribe a comprehensive
blueprint for change. Those of us interested in of suicide prevention in the
workplace have noticed three main areas where workplaces have concerns about
suicidal behavior:
1) After death or a serious
attempt has already occurred: Unfortunately, most workplaces dealing
with this issue are doing so in a reactive mode – wondering what warning signs
were missed and how best to support their grieving and traumatized staff. To
help workplaces in these situations, one goal of the workplace suicide
prevention advocates is to provide succinct guidelines on how best to handle
the crisis and suggested best practices on how to support bereaved employees.
2) As they relate to healthcare
costs and lost productivity costs: Most
for-profit organizations make decisions based on how the choice will impact
their bottom line. For this reason, suicide prevention advocates will continue
to gather data to make a strong business case for suicide prevention. In other
words, we need to demonstrate that engaging in suicide prevention will save the
company money.
3) As they relate to workplace
safety: with suicide-homicide cases capturing
the attention of employers for decades, much concern exists on how dangerous
suicidal people are to others. In order to alleviate this worry, suicide
prevention advocates can help link workplaces to policy, protocol and training
that allows them to implement “early warning” systems and a process for linking
at-risk people quickly to qualified care.
Thus, our general approach is to meet
workplaces where they are – crisis support, cost-savings, safety protocol, or
whatever other need they have. In order to better serve their needs we need to
listen well to their concerns about suicidal behavior as well as their
perceived barriers to doing something different. By aligning employers’ goals
with the goals of suicide prevention, we will have a much greater chance of
successful larger-scale change, as one step can often lead to another.
Contact the Carson J Spencer Foundation
for more information about up-coming training on suicide prevention in the
workplace and our Working Minds Toolkit
(www.WorkingMinds.org).
[1] Prochaska,
James, DiClimente, Carlo, Norcross, John (1993). In search of how people
change: Applications to addictive behaviors. Journal of Addictions Nursing, 5(1) 2-16.
[2] Edwards,
Ruth, Jumper-Thurman, Pamela, Plested, Barbara, Oetting, E. & Louis,
Swanson (2000). Community readiness: Research to practice. Journal of Community Psychology, 28(3), 291-307.