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Q&A: Youth Suicide Prevention in Primary Care As we head into Suicide Prevention Month, suicide remains the leading cause of death for Colorado middle and high school students. For many youth at risk for suicide, a visit with their primary care provider is the best chance to get the help they did. That’s why PCMH developed a youth suicide prevention care pathway to help providers deliver suicide-safer care. Rooted in the Zero Suicide framework, the pathway includes screening, risk assessment, and safety planning. Through the Pathway to Suicide Prevention program, PCMH offers training and ..read more

Improving Outcomes for Children & Youth with Complex Needs Written by PCMH’s policy director Alli Daley. Across Colorado, many children and youth with mental health conditions end up boarding in emergency departments, county human services offices and hotels because there are limited treatment settings to meet their needs. Kids also end up stuck in hospitals for extended periods due to limited discharge options in community settings.  To address this, a coalition of hospitals, counties, state agencies and advocates have partnered together to bring forward House Bill 23-1269 (HB1269 ..read more

Children’s Mental Health in the 2023 Legislative Session Written by PCMH’s policy director Alli Daley. Colorado’s 74th General Assembly has officially kicked off. Already, there are several bills and budget items being debated that could impact children and youth mental health. As the rates of mental illness among Colorado youth continue to skyrocket, we’re eager to see lawmakers take action in order to expand access to and quality of care.  Mental health bills to know Following are the key bills we’re watching. Notably, several of these are youth initiated, led by the Colorado Youth Ad ..read more

Approximately 2,900 youth who die by suicide each year in the United States use a firearm. To inform lethal means safety counseling efforts, this study aimed to describe firearm access among youth deemed at risk for suicide in pediatric medical settings. Read the Full Report authors: Nathan J. Lowry, Ian H. Stanley, Annabelle M. Mournet, Elizabeth A. Wharff, Shayla A. Sullivant, Stephen J. Teach, Maryland Pao, Lisa M. Horowitz & Jeffrey A. Bridge Content originally published on tandfonline.com The post Firearms Access among Pediatric Patients at Risk for Suicide appeared first on Part ..read more

The “It Gets Better” project (IGBP) features video narratives of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer persons or persons with other sexual or gender minority identities (LGBTQ+) of overcoming coming-out-related difficulties. This is the first experimental study investigating effects of these videos. Read the Full Report authors: Stefanie Kirchner, Benedikt Till, Martin Plöderl, and Thomas Niederkrotenthaler Content originally published on https://www.liebertpub.com/ The post Effects of “It Gets Better” Suicide Prevention Videos on Youth Identifying as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transge ..read more

To conduct a local evaluation of the use of the educational resource: Suicide in Children and Young People: Tips for GPs, in practice and its impact on General Practitioners (GPs)’ clinical decision making. Read the Full Report authors: Maria Michail, Aimee Cairns, Emma Preece, and Faraz Mughal Content originally published on cambridge.org The post Supporting general practitioners in the assessment and management of suicide risk in young people: an evaluation of an educational resource in primary care appeared first on Partners for Children's Mental Health ..read more

Welcoming PCMH’s New Executive Director: Five Questions for Michele Lueck We’re thrilled to welcome our new executive director Michele Lueck to Partners for Children’s Mental Health! A visionary leader, Michele previously served as the President and CEO of the Colorado Health Institute (CHI), where she led a decade of expansion — growing CHI from a $1.5M to a $6M organization. Michele also chairs the board of Adams State University. In 2020, she was selected as a Denver Business Journal Most Admired CEO. Nearly one month in, Michele sat down to answer five questions to help us get to know he ..read more

Claire’s story: Just one person can make a difference Claire Huber (she/her) is a committee member on PCMH’s Youth Committee for Mental Health, representing Erie, Colorado. Below she shares her story. Learn more about YCMH and how to get involved. When struggling with mental health, the most important thing one can do is ask for help. Reach out your hand, and I promise you, someone will help. Having someone there, supporting you, trying to help, can make a world of difference, even if it’s just one person. For roughly the last two years of my life, I’ve been struggling with an eating dis ..read more

Oliver’s story: The “different child”  Oliver Schmekpeper (he/they) is a committee member on PCMH’s Youth Committee for Mental Health (YCMH), representing Broomfield, Colorado. Learn more about YCMH and how to get involved.  I was always labeled as the “different child.”  It all started in elementary school, when I had a hard time focusing on my teachers and what they were saying. At times, they would be inches from my face, snapping at me while saying “hello, hello, is anyone there?” Their eyes would roll as I zoned back to reality with a dazed look on my face pondering w ..read more