Module 2 > Community-informed strategy development > Data sources
A public health approach is data driven. That means looking at the specific profile of suicide in the community, who is most affected, what risk factors are contributing to suicide, and what factors are helping to protect against it. Communities should develop strategies that are specifically designed to influence the conditions that are increasing the risk of suicide, according to the data. They should also evaluate strategies and use what they learn to make adjustments.
Community-informed strategy development often includes looking at existing reports and data and learning about strengths, needs and priorities from local leaders and populations of focus. Unsure where to find or how to access quality data?
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Read the Suicide Prevention Resource Center’s one-pager on state and local data sources, part of the training: Locating and Understanding Data for Suicide Prevention.
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Watch the second short video from CDC’s Dr. Alex Crosby, which reviews key sources of data related to suicide.
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Complete Module 3, Bringing equity to suicide prevention: How can we support communities at elevated risk of suicide?
Communities can make critical contributions to the evidence base by measuring and disseminating their successes. Incorporating program evaluation and a communications plan allows communities to share findings and outcomes with other communities and stakeholders as they develop approaches that are effective in suicide prevention among different subgroups and in varying conditions. The Suicide Prevention Resource Center’s report, Challenges and Recommendations for Evaluating Suicide Prevention Programs: State and Tribal Evaluators Community of Learning, explores lessons learned related to local evaluation of suicide prevention efforts. Additional guidance is also available in RAND’s toolkit for evaluating suicide prevention programs.
Reflection questions
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What data do you already have that can help inform suicide prevention efforts (including partners, priorities, messaging)? What data do you still need?
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How do you balance quantitative and qualitative data, and decide when you need to gather new information and when you can simply review existing data reports?
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For efforts already underway: how is data being used to continuously modify and improve the overall approach and individual activities? How are you measuring and disseminating your successes?