Resources on Suicide Prevention in Refugees

The National Partnership for Community Training recently presented a webinar which is now archived online: Suicidality Among Refugees: Program Approaches and Community Responses

Suicidality, including suicidal ideation and completion, is a continuing concern among refugee populations and resettlement workers. This webinar takes a fresh approach to the topic by offering a wide range of perspectives. Beginning with an investigative research project, Sharmila Shetty with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention outlines the research conducted on Bhutanese refugee completed suicides. She provides recommendations to all refugee resettlement stakeholders and those initiatives implemented since her research was completed. Psychiatrist Chhabilal Sharma provides a clinical overview of Bhutanese refugees, insight into their perception of mental health, and how religion affects suicidality. Finally, Henny Ohr elaborates on the grassroots organization, Ethnic Minorities of Burma Advocacy and Resource Center, and its holistic approach to suicidality through various refugee-led programs.

Resources:

  • Suicide Precaution: This Information Guide provides practical steps any direct service personnel can implement when interacting with a client who is exhibiting suicidal ideation. Included in this guide is how to create a safety plan, how to ask appropriate questions, and how to incorporate preventative components into programming, such as cultural orientation.
  • Addressing Mental Health, PTSD, and Suicide in Refugee Communities: This webinar discusses the clinical definitions, cultural considerations, and best practice therapy modalities for refugees experiencing various mental health concerns, including suicidality. It illustrates the importance of community-led interventions and gatekeeper trainings.
  • Mental Health First Aid (MHFA): This training is a course that provides foundational knowledge of common mental health disorders, how symptoms of those disorders manifest in others, and step by step instructions for different emergency mental health situations. This training is being offered through the Office of Refugee Resettlement to refugee community members and refugee resettlement workers. It is an 8-hour mental health education that includes suicide prevention and intervention. Contact your state refugee coordinator to discuss upcoming opportunities.

    • Additionally, here are some articles, webinars, and factsheets providing further information on suicide and suicide prevention:

  • Ethnic Minorities of Burma Advocacy and Resource Center (EMBARC)
  • Suicide Among Resettled Refugees Webinar
  • After a Suicide: A Toolkit for Schools
  • Preventing Youth Suicide
  • Adapting QPR Training to Incorporate Refugee Experiences Webinar
  • An investigation into Suicides among Bhutanese Refugees in the US
  • Refugee Suicide Prevention Training Toolkit
  • Strengthening Case Management: Case Management and the Suicidal Client Webinar
  • National Suicide Prevention Lifeline

    • Download (PDF, 381KB)

    Download (PDF, 538KB)

    June 23rd International Day in Support of Victims of Torture Video Screening

    This year, in honor of International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, we’re hosting a free film screening of ‘The Last Survivor’, an award winning, feature-length documentary film that follows the lives of survivors of four different genocides and mass atrocities – The Holocaust, Rwanda, Darfur, and Congo. This film presents a unique opportunity to learn from the mistakes of our past in order to have a lasting social impact on how we act collectively in the face of similar issues which still exist today and relates to this year’s theme — Support Life After Torture.

    The screening will be hosted at the National Liberty Museum, which is dedicated to honoring real-life heroes and the heritage of freedom. A complimentary museum pass will be offered to guests to take a self-guided tour between 5pm-6pm before the screening. The screening will begin promptly at 6pm.

    Light refreshments and hors d’oeuvres will be served.

    We kindly request that you RSVP for a ticket is required for entry. Please register here:

    https://ppr.ticketleap.com/film-screening/

    Download (PDF, 254KB)

    Pediatric Global Health: Building Networks for the Future, Sept. 30 – Oct. 1, 2016

    The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia Global Health Center is accepting abstracts for posters to be displayed at our conference Pediatric Global Health: Building Networks for the Future to be held Sept. 30 and Oct. 1, 2016. Abstracts may be related to any aspect of pediatric global health, though we are particularly interested in those focusing on pediatric global health partnerships, collaborations and networks.

    Electronic submission deadline is Friday, July 15, 2016, 11:59 EST.

    Only abstracts submitted to globalhealthcenter@email.chop.edu will be accepted.

    For more information: visit website

    Please see the attached for submission guidelines and more details. Feel free to share this with your network.

    Download (PDF, 324KB)

    SAVE THE DATE: 2016 AAFP Global Health Workshop September 8-10, ATLANTA, GA

    Family Medicine Global Health Workshop

    Attend the 2016 AAFP Family Medicine Global Health Workshop
    September 8 – 10, 2016 | Atlanta, Georgia

    Make Your Impact More Sustainable
    Whether you’re exploring opportunities to engage in global health, preparing for your overseas experience, or seeking to broaden your clinical knowledge about global health concerns, the Global Health Workshop is the place to network, learn, and train with current and aspiring global health advocates.
    Connect with people and places. Learn what only experience can teach you.

  • Match your experience and skills with global health needs.
  • Prepare to serve as a family medicine consultant
  • Learn how to organize and conduct a global health consultation
  • Evaluate the practical management of chronic diseases in resource-constrained settings
  • Advise and train students, residents and physicians for global health endeavors
  • Promote family medicine faculty development
  • Explore opportunities to think on a global scale in a local setting

    Register here

    • Discontinuation of Trivalent Oral Polio vaccine

    Attached is a copy of CDC/ORR notification regrading discontinuation of Trivalent Oral Polio vaccine (tOPV) use and subsequent switch to bivalent oral polio vaccine (bOPV).

    Download (PDF, 261KB)

    NPCT – Newest Client Engagement Tool and Updates

    The National Partnership for Community Training (NPCT) Newest Client Engagement Tool and Updates – Click here to view current issue

  • Introducing the “Take 15″ Tool
  • Office of Refugee Resettlement’s Training and Technical Assistance Providers: Events and Resources
  • Mental Health Awareness & Self-Care

    • Information on Zika Virus

    The Philadelphia Department of Public Health has provided information on Zika Virus including Fact Sheets in English and Spanish, FAQ brochures and posters for practices serving OB patients. For more information, contact Malaya Fletcher at Malaya.fletcher@phila.gov.

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    Download (PDF, 358KB)

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    Webinar on Best Practices in Serving LGBT Refugees

    WEBINAR RECORDING

    New Research on Improving Access to Early Childhood Education for Refugees

    Migration Policy Institute has recently published new research on improving access to Early Childhood Education for Refugees. Learn more here: MPI Study

    A link to the Early Head Start application is available here: Early Head Start Application

    CDC Update: Measles Outbreak in Kenya

    CDC Outbreak Alert Notice regarding 3 cases of measles among refugees who had recently arrived to Dadaab Refugee Camp in Kenya. Health authorities are investigating the cases and implementing outbreak response measures, which include enhanced pre-departure surveillance and expanded vaccination.

    No cases of measles have been reported in refugees in the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program in Dadaab or in the International Organization for Migration (IOM) Nairobi Transit Center. Learn more here:

    Download (PDF, 131KB)