CRISE - IASP 2013 - ASSOCIATION QUÉBÉCOISE DE PÉVENTION DU SUICIDE
DECREASE IN SUICIDE RATES: A BRIEF LOOK AT FOUR STRATEGIES Abstract: The Province of Quebec has long been recognized for high suicide rates. In 1999, the worst year for suicides on record, 1620 people committed suicide with a rate of 26.5 deaths per 100,000 residents. Ten years later, in 2009, there were 1146 suicides, a rate of 14.6 per 100,000. Progress was particularly noted in the first half of the 2000s, with the largest decline in rates being in among the youth. This encouraging decline suggests that suicide prevention efforts are in fact bearing fruit, although with three deaths a day by suicide, it would still be inappropriate to speak in terms of success. It is essential to understand the various reasons of this multifaceted issue in order to reinforce prevention and to develop effective measures. Indeed, the suicide prevention stakeholders in Quebec have put forward various hypotheses. They believe that the following measures have had an influence on the drop in suicide rates: telephone intervention, training in efficient intervention processes, networks of sentinels and social mobilization. The presentation will explain these four measures and will highlight the difficulties and the keys involved in their implementation. 2001: Telephone intervention 24h/24 7/7 2003: Training in efficient intervention processes 2007: Sentinels training and implementation of networks of sentinels 2009: Project of social mobilization "Ajouter ma voix"
