Our State, Our Wellbeing
Program Materials
Attendees at the Statewide Summit on Suicide Prevention participated in an inspiring, interactive art exhibit, adding their photos to surround the words, “We See You,” on a display board. The art represented a message suicide prevention advocates are working to spread throughout communities across the state: helping people who are struggling understand that they are not alone, their community cares about them, and there is help and hope to offer.
The message: “To all communities in North Carolina and to all who need to hear it – we see you – and we have gathered here today to build the connections and share the growing number of resources that our communities need to offer hope and save lives.”
Team Storyboards
WELLBEING RESOURCES
STRATEGIES TO PREVENT SUICIDE
Suicide is a serious public health problem that can have long-lasting effects on individuals, families, and communities. The good news is that suicide is preventable. Preventing suicide requires strategies at all levels of society. This includes prevention and protective strategies for individuals, families, and communities. Everyone can help prevent suicide by learning the warning signs, promoting prevention and resilience, and a committing to social change.
CDC’s Suicide Prevention Resource for Action highlights strategies based on the best available evidence to help states and communities prevent suicide. The strategies and their corresponding approaches are listed in the table below.
Strengthen economic supports
- Improve household financial security
- Stabilize housing
Create protective environments
- Reduce access to lethal means among persons at risk of suicide
- Create healthy organizational policies and culture
- Reduce substance use through community-based policies and practices
Improve access and delivery of suicide care
- Cover mental health conditions in health insurance policies
- Increase provider availability in underserved areas
- Provide rapid and remote access to help
- Create safer suicide care through systems change
Promote healthy connections
- Promote healthy peer norms
- Engage community members in shared activities
Teach coping and problem-solving skills
- Support social-emotional learning programs
- Teach parenting skills to improve family relationships
- Support resilience through education programs
Identify and support people at risk
- Train gatekeepers
- Respond to crises
- Plan for safety and follow-up after an attempt
- Provide therapeutic approaches
Lessen harms and prevent future risk
- Intervene after a suicide (postvention)
- Report and message about suicide safely
2024 POV Challenge Submissions
Thank you to the 19 teams who participated in the 2024 POV Challenge! All student submissions will be shared with Our State, Our Wellbeing teams as they work in communities across North Carolina to improve mental health and prevent suicide.
Team 1
Team 2
Team 3
Team 4
Team 5
Team 6
Team 7
Team 8
Team 9
Team 10
Team 11
Team 12
Team 13
Team 14
Team 15
Team 16
Team 17
Team 18
Team 19
Our State, Our Wellbeing
Blog Posts
What is Our State, Our Wellbeing?
Our State, Our Wellbeing is a 12-month initiative to identify and implement strategies to improve mental health and reduce the number of suicides in North Carolina, launched by Carolina Across 100 and the UNC Suicide Prevention Institute
Understanding Suicide Prevention in NC
Our conversations and research about suicide prevention work led Carolina Across 100 and the UNC Suicide Prevention Instutute to a few clear conclusions. First, the issues of suicide and mental health are shared across the state, but they affect every community differently. In turn, every community brings different assets, resources, and relationships to this challenge. To address this issue effectively, we need local-level input and context alongside coordinated efforts across state-level partners and systems.
