Roots of Hope

In 2018 the Mental Health Commission of Canada launched Roots of Hope, a model for communities to reduce the impact of suicide. The “model builds on community expertise to implement suicide prevention and life promotion initiatives based on 5 pillars and 13 guiding principles”. Since then, it has been adopted by 20 communities across Canada.

The CMHA-WECB and the Windsor Essex County Health Unit co-chair the Windsor Essex County Suicide Prevention Coalition, and along with the members, work on Roots of Hope initiatives. If you are interested in becoming a member, please email [email protected].

5 Pillars

• Means Safety. Identify “hot spots” and implement measures to limit access to the suicide methods being used.
• Public Awareness. Create local educational campaigns (e.g., posters, brochures, social media).
• Research. Set research priorities, surveillance, and monitoring and evaluation to increase the suicide prevention evidence base.
• Specialized Supports. Develop a range of possible prevention, intervention, and postvention services (e.g., peer support, support groups, workplace interventions, and coordinated planning and access to services).
• Training and Networks. Provide training and learning opportunities for community gatekeepers (e.g., physicians, first responders, nurses, HR staff and managers, and teachers).

The 13 Guiding Principles:

1. Comprehensive. Use multiple interventions geared toward a wide range of individuals across a variety of settings.
2. Collaboration/Coordination. Design programs to enhance collaboration among stakeholders.
3. Culturally Appropriate. Develop, implement, and evaluate interventions that respect a diversity of cultures and are responsive and appropriate (for the overall community and specific sub-populations).
4. Recovery-Oriented. Focus suicide prevention efforts on giving people hope, treating them with dignity, and meaningfully including them in the decisions being made.
5. Evidence-Informed. Use interventions that are selected and informed by different kinds of evidence, including those outside of peer-reviewed quantitative studies.
6. Measurement and Evaluation. Measure outcomes and evaluate interventions to determine their effectiveness and inform future innovations.
7. Lived Experience. Recognize the important role of suicide attempt and suicide loss survivors, persons with lived and living experience, individuals bereaved by suicide, and caregivers in guiding suicide prevention efforts.
8. Flexible. While standardization is important when comparing communities or tracking progress over time, be sure that selected interventions can be tailored to the community for which they are being implemented.
9. Strengths-Based. Build on existing strengths rather than on identifying and closing gaps.
10. Span the Continuum. Address suicide across the entire spectrum, including prevention, intervention, and postvention services.
11. Community Centered. Develop initiatives that are community-led, tailored to its current level of readiness, and driven by engaging and empowering local stakeholders.
12. Sustainable. Design initiatives that allow for continued funding and leadership.
13. Innovative. Attempt, evaluate, and share creative and innovative ideas to advance suicide prevention efforts globally.