PROJECT 2025
← Back
← Swipe
Our Nationwide Initiative to Reduce the Annual Rate of Suicide in the U.S. 20% by 2025
Despite the fact that more is being done today to prevent suicide than at any other time in history, suicide is still the tenth leading cause of death in the U.S. Together with guidance from the top minds in the field and by using dynamic data modeling, we understand the programs, policies and interventions that will prevent as many suicides as possible. Using data that specify who we are losing to suicide and how we are losing them, AFSP’s board of expert advisors has honed a comprehensive plan to save lives.
We know that we can’t do it alone, but we can have a tremendous impact on the rate of suicide by partnering with organizations in four critical areas identified to save the most lives in the shortest amount of time: firearms settings, healthcare systems, emergency departments, and corrections systems.
Through our chapters throughout the country, volunteers known as our Project 2025 Champions are helping to reach these partners in their own local communities. Together, we can #KeepGoing and dramatically reduce the suicide rate.
Firearms &
Safe Storage
51% of all suicides in the U.S. are by firearm, and 85-90% of firearm suicide attempts are lethal. It’s crucial that firearms owners are aware of safe storage practices and other elements of suicide prevention. To help make suicide prevention education a basic component of firearms ownership, we’ve partnered with the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) to help distribute materials to its national network of retailers and ranges. This year, we’ve also created a special module of our Talk Saves Lives education program, specific to suicide prevention and firearms safety.
Partnering with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and the National Shooting Sports FoundationIn May, AFSP joined the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) for a webcast about “Protecting Mental Health and Preventing Suicide During COVID-19,” which aired on the YouTube Channel of the U.S. Concealed Carry Association (USCCA), one of the largest firearms-owner groups in the country.
AFSP’s Chief Medical Officer Dr. Christine Moutier, together with Dr. Matthew Miller, Executive Director of Suicide Prevention for the VA, and Joe Bartozzi, NSSF’s President and CEO, delivered the message that securely storing firearms, and other methods of harming oneself, can play a huge role in deterring suicide. Creating time and space between a person with suicidal thoughts and access to a means of self-harm, such as a firearm, can create a moment of pause, allowing the period of heightened risk to pass. Suicide is not inevitable, and reaching out to someone to have a “brave conversation” can be lifesaving.
Healthcare Systems
Large healthcare systems spanning both primary and behavioral care are a critical setting where coordinated suicide prevention strategies can have a dramatic impact on lives saved. By identifying one out of every five at-risk people in large healthcare systems – such as during primary care and behavioral health visits – and providing them with short-term intervention and better follow-up care, we can expect an estimated 9,200 lives saved through 2025. Project 2025 is collaborating with the country’s largest healthcare systems and accrediting organizations to accelerate the acceptance and adoption of risk identification and suicide prevention strategies we know work.
This year, we expanded our partnership with SafeSide Prevention, which provides video-based suicide training for doctors across the country. Through AFSP’s work with SafeSide Prevention, doctors are educated as to the best practices for how to ensure that patients and others in the healthcare environment get help when they need it. Pilot evaluation from the partnership this past year showed that primary care providers who received SafeSide training reported significant gains in knowledge around managing patients at risk for suicide, and nearly 100% would recommend the training to colleagues.
Emergency
Departments
Emergency Departments present a key opportunity to identify and treat the individuals at the highest and most immediate risk for suicide. Basic screening and interventions can provide a safety net for at-risk patients seen in emergency departments. Project 2025 is educating emergency medicine providers, and collaborating with key accrediting and professional organizations, to improve the acceptance and adoption of suicide screening and preventative intervention as the standard in emergency care.
By screening one out of five people seen in ERs, and providing short-term interventions such as Safety Planning and follow-up care, we can expect an estimated 1,100 lives saved through 2025.
Innovations in Suicide Awards AFSP is proud to partner with the American College of Emergency Physicians to present the Innovations in Suicide Awards. These awards highlight individuals in the acute care setting who are taking on the remarkable effort of developing innovative systems, models and interventions to improve the care of patients with suicidal ideation or behavior.
Marian (Emmy) Betz, MD, MPH
Dr. Betz is receiving this award on behalf of the team behind “Lock to Live,” an innovative, patient-centered online tool that augments provider-delivered counseling. The Lock to Live tool helps suicidal adults and their families think through decisions and personal preferences about the storage of firearms, medications, and other potentially harmful items. The process of developing and testing the innovative “Lock to Live” tool contributed to the science and practice of both lethal means safety for suicide prevention and the field of decision science. We know that limiting access to lethal means when someone is in distress can save lives, making this a key tool for suicide prevention.
Stephen H. Anderson
Dr. Anderson and the city of Auburn are receiving this award for their creation of the R.E.A.D.Y program. In 2015, a King County Community Health Needs Assessment showed parts of south King County, including Auburn, as the most negatively impacted areas in the state for health, housing, and economic opportunity measures. The R.E.A.D.Y. program, which is reproducible and can be customized for any community, provides information about common mental/behavioral health issues, and basic tools to use in emergent situations. The program fills the gap before 911 can respond and prepares participants for what to expect when they arrive at an emergency department. The R.E.A.D.Y. program has been seen by over 3,000 citizens/organizations in King County and across the state. Thank you, Dr. Anderson and the city of Auburn, for all you are doing to prevent suicide.
Corrections Systems
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, suicide is the leading cause of death in jails, and the suicide rate in prisons continues to increase. Incarcerated people are particularly vulnerable to suicide, for a variety of complex reasons. Research tells us that people in times of transition are at especially high-risk for suicide, and that there are particularly critical windows during which we can provide effective, life-saving suicide prevention interventions. We need to change the culture of suicide prevention in our country’s jails and prisons.
To do so, we worked with the National Commission on Correctional Health Care (NCCHC) to create an authoritative resource on preventing suicide in correctional facilities: the Suicide Prevention Resource Guide, which provides a road map for navigating the complexities of suicide prevention in correctional settings. The guide educates people who work in jails and prisons on how to better identify and help inmates at risk for suicide; safely manage those identified as high risk; and provide consistent, comprehensive training to all involved personnel.
Working together with NCCHC, we are educating both correctional staff, and health care professionals who work in the correctional system, about suicide risk and how to identify and care for the suicidal inmate-patient, to help save lives.
