Waapi Kani hosts Suicide Prevention Awareness Picnic Luncheon
Suicide Prevention Awareness attendees on September 18.
By ROSELYNN YAZZIE
Sho-Ban News
FORT HALL — In recognition of Suicide Prevention Awareness Month the Waapi Kani Mental Wellness & Recovery Services hosted a Suicide Awareness Picnic Luncheon on September 18.
Participants were invited to share their experiences with suicide and programs talked about services available to the community.
Counseling & Family Services Clinical Supervisor, Dan Hall, said the meeting was to help people understand some of the challenges of mental health and develop some compassion for those who are going through those kinds of challenges. We want to reach out and let the community know that our program and other programs in the community are there to help.
Resources also included numbers for local support, including Fort Hall Police Department at 208-238-4000, Cedar House at 208-479-3613, or the Cedar House Crisis Line at 208-238-3613, a 24-hour hotline.
Hall said some of the services they provide include outpatient counseling for juveniles and adults for things like anxiety, depression, family counseling, couples counseling, and so on.
Suicide Prevention Awareness display at the event.
One of the ways they can respond to patients at Fort Hall Indian Health includes an evaluation of their Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), which is a mental health screening tool that scores the indication of severe depression. The higher the number indicates the severity of their depression.
They’ve also started a Zero Suicide Project up again, which includes meeting with members of the community, as well as specialists from Pocatello and Suicide Prevention Specialists in Boise to discuss issues.
They’ve also displayed promotional suicide prevention awareness signage throughout the community. One can be viewable by the railroad tracks on the Fort Hall campus. The other one is located off the Fort Hall exit.
They’re also working with the tribal jail inmates to help them cope if they have suicidal thoughts.
Hall said it happens fairly often that they have people who walk through their doors and have some level of suicidal ideation.
“The more severe cases, those are less frequent,” he said. Adding they suggest offering to help safeguard their home from things that they might hurt themselves.
Many of their staff attended a suicide prevention workshop hosted at Idaho State University in early September.
Willow Abrahamson, a Behavioral Health Specialist, said they also utilize the GAD-7 anxiety scale and help implement safety plans to address the issues.
Abrahamson said some of their initiatives are to help the community to find ways of coping.
“Coping skills are one of the number one interventions to preventing somebody from actually engaging in suicidal type of activities,” she said. “Coping skills in the context of our language and culture are very necessary and needed.”
Therefore, they're currently partnering with the Language & Culture Preservation Department in developing therapies to help individuals through smudging, thinking processes, connecting with plants, gathering, and other positive forms of cultural activities.
A lunch of hot dogs, chips, and cake was served to those who came.
