September 11, 2024 • 2:00pm ET

LECTURE TOPIC

Cultural Considerations Applied in Community: Tribal-VHA Partnerships in Suicide Prevention Toolkit

Register online

Native American Veterans have served in the United States military at a higher level per capita than any other race group. They also have the highest rate of suicide, and those rates continue to rise. While suicide prevention is often focused on clinical intervention in a moment of crisis, suicide prevention is also about community. And for Native Americans, community connection is critical.

• VA’s S.A.V.E.(Signs of suicidal thinking, Ask questions, Validate the experience, Encourage and Expediate treatment) training brings the community into Veteran suicide prevention.
• Tribal communities have time-honored approaches and practices grounded in culture, tradition, and Indigenous knowledge that can help prevent suicide.

The Tribal-VHA Partnerships in Suicide Prevention Toolkit provides guidance for interweaving these different but also often complementary approaches to suicide prevention. The Toolkit includes strategies and step-by-step guides for building partnerships and re-envisioning VA suicide prevention approaches with Tribal communities.

Following this live lecture, participants will be able to:

1. Describe the general characteristics of Native Veterans and the communities where they live.
2. Identify critical components of VA facility/team readiness for Tribal partnerships.
3. Describe key elements of the four steps in creating a plan for initiating or strengthening a Tribal community partnership.
4. Identify the critical elements of the VA S.A.V.E. training to adapt into a S.A.V.E. Conversation culturally appropriate for a Tribal community.
5. Assess the differences between implementing a VA S.A.V.E. training and an adapted S.A.V.E. conversation.

PRESENTER INFORMATION

Carol E. Kaufman, PhD.

Carol E. Kaufman, PhD. is a population scientist with the Veteran Rural Health Resource Center, Salt Late City (VA Office of Rural Health) and a professor at the Centers for American Indian and Alaska Native Health, Colorado School of Public Health, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. With 25 years of experience in research and public health practice with Tribal communities, she is a social demographer with a strong interest in the cultural and community context of mental health and well-being, health services, and suicide prevention. A significant part of Dr. Kaufman’s work centers on Native American Veterans’ issues, efforts she has grounded within a strong community-engaged framework, working closely with Tribal communities to enhance partnership and collaboration in all aspects of her work.