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August NewsletterWelcome to the August newsletter. We have packed it full of helpful resources related to the very near Suicide Prevention Awareness month. Before you get to those resources, we welcome you to check out this month's highlight.
In November of 2022, the first ever Youth in Action: Youth Summit was held! This brief report was put together by Sheila Michels, a Health and Well-Being Extension Educator from Adams county. She was instrumental in working with a planning committee from public health and community drug prevention coalitions in Adams, Juneau, and Sauk counties. With how positively received this event was, a second Youth Summit is being planned for February, 2024.
Read the report and see pictures from the event by following the link below.
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September is Suicide Prevention Awareness Month
We have put together a non-exhaustive list of great resources around Suicide Prevention Awareness Month and hope they are of use to you! Feel free to forward this email on to your community members and partners that you feel may benefit from this information.
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Resources from NAMIAs always, NAMI has put together a great list of different resources. Within this page are links titled:
- Crisis Resources
- How to Engage with Suicide Prevention month
- Advocate
- "You Are Not Alone" - NAMI's first book
- Share Key Fast Facts
- Blogs and Personal Stories
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The National Child Traumatic Stress Network's guide for Suicide Prevention Awareness Month
"The National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN) has compiled a list of helpful resources for parents and caregivers, children and teens, mental health providers, educators and school staff, and policy makers."
They have a large library of fact sheets and videos with information on specific populations and scenarios. You may find some helpful, shareable resources here.
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CDC Suicide Prevention Month: Partner Toolkit
"CDC’s Injury Center created a Suicide Prevention Month Social Media Toolkit, which includes sample social media graphics and messages centered around the key role personal connections play in preventing suicide. The toolkit content also highlights messages about the importance of connecting with others, learning how to cope with stress in order to increase resilience, and promoting the new 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.
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Self Care CornerThis month I want to highlight some "in case of emergency" stress reduction techniques. With September, for a lot of us, comes new schedules, helping with schoolwork, and a lot of busyness. This can lead to having very few moments to check in with yourself. Take a moment to review some of these techniques to use when you just have a few minutes and need to reset, transition, or bring yourself back to the present moment.
I have written out instructions for the following two exercises and attached the .pdf below. Feel free to share this document or print it out to have at your desk for quick reference!
- 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 Mindfulness Exercise
- Box Breathing
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988 Promotes National Suicide Prevention Month
"#BeThe1To is the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline’s message for National Suicide Prevention Month and beyond, which helps spread the word about actions we can all take to prevent suicide. The Lifeline network and its partners are working to change the conversation from suicide to suicide prevention, to actions that can promote healing, help and give hope
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988 Youth ResourcesThis is another great toolkit of sorts that highlights specific resources for Youth. "Suicide is the second leading cause of death for young people between 10 to 24". Youth face unique challenges that sometimes is misunderstood due to their age. There are many helpful links and some stories of hope and recovery.
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teen line - A mental health line for teens staffed by teens
From their website: "When you call or text Teen Line, another teen will be there to listen, understand, and answer your questions. Many of our callers are talking to someone about what they’re going through for the first time. Our teen listeners are aware of that and try to make you as comfortable as possible."
The line is open from 8pm CST until 12pm CST. There are also options to text, email, or chat.
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From Mental Health America, "Where to Start"
A new book from Mental Health America titled, "Where to Start" provides some direction for individuals struggling in their mental health journey. It is divided into four parts.
- Part one: Am I Okay?
- Part Two: Talking About It
- Part Three: Getting Help
- Part Four: DIY Mental Health Practices
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The Behavioral Health website is live!Check it out using the button below.
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Q3 Mental Health First Aid TrainingThis quarter, we are targeting our course offerings more closely. We are going to offer at least one Youth Mental Health First Aid course per quarter that is reserved for those of you enrolled in the MCH Title V block grant and your community members. If this course fills up quickly, we will look at adding more dates!
We invite you to contact us at YouthHealth@extension.wisc.edu if you'd like to request a training for you and your community.
Youth Mental Health First Aid - Q3
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Event Reminders
September office hours - September 14th from 9:00am - 10:00am
During the September office hours, UW-Extension Educator's from Adams, Kenosha and Dane Counties will share their experiences using the Youth Advocate's for Community Health framework to support community-based efforts to raise youth voice and authentically engage young people to address heath disparities in their communities.
Youth Advocates for Community Health is a framework that includes five steps towards action. The five steps include choose your battle, raise awareness and engage others, make your action plan, implement your plan and evaluate your plan. This five step framework engages young people in leading policy, systems and environmental changes to promote health in rural and urban communities.
Learning Community Call - September 25th
Our September (and last of the year) Learning Community Call will take place on Monday, September 25th from 12:00pm - 1:30pm. Per usual, the session will be recorded over Zoom. It will be here before we know it!
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