UTAH, Sept. 6, 2022 (Gephardt Daily) — The Utah Department of Health and Human Services has announced an online suicide prevention course to help citizens intervene when they see a mental health crisis in progress.
“As part of Suicide Prevention Awareness Month (September), Live On Utah, a statewide effort to educate and prevent suicide, will launch a first-of-its-kind suicide prevention course taught entirely over social media,” says an announcement from the agency.
“Working with mental health experts at both the state and national levels, the 10-lesson course aims to help as many Utahns as possible become suicide prevention ambassadors.”
The life-saving potential of one person’s intervention was demonstrated in January of this year, when Lehi resident Joe Tuia’ana intervened to help a stranger in crisis. The younger man was preparing to jump from an Interstate 15 overpass.
Tuia’ana was on his way to his daughter’s basketball game when he came across the stranger. Tuia’ana stayed with the troubled man, expressing love and emotional support, until the stranger abandoned his suicide plan.
Tuia’ana is the inspiration behind the course, called the Suicide Prevention Playbook, the UDHHS statement says.
“Before that experience, I was like most people,” said Tuia’ana, quoted in the prepared statement. “I’ve had friends and family affected by suicide, and I thought suicide was an issue that needed to be addressed, but I would just forget about it an hour later and sweep it under the rug.”
The moment he was able to change a stranger’s life affected Tuia’ana’s life, as well as that of the young man he helped, the statement says.
“I’m proud to have been a part of creating Live On Utah’s suicide prevention playbook,” Tuia’ana said. “So many people are struggling and they all deserve support and love.”
Allison Foust, suicide prevention program administrator at the Utah Department of Health and Human Services, said that after a suicide, many people ask themselves what they could have done to prevent it.
“The suicide prevention playbook will help people learn the warning signs, how to ask someone if they are having thoughts of suicide, share their story safely, and where to find resources and help,” Foust says in the prepared statement. “It is a tough conversation, but this course will teach you the skills that may help save a life.”
As part of the launch, a wide range of businesses, schools, and organizations in Utah, including Associated Foods, Brigham Young University, Larry H. Miller Company, Silicon Slopes, and the University of Utah will encourage all employees, students, and partners to take the course. The course is free and available at instagram.com/liveonutah/.
Visit liveonutah.org/playbook for more information.
A nationwide suicide hotline can be reached 24/7 by calling 988.
