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The Critical Role of Providers During Postvention
Uncover seven strategies for supporting community healing the aftermath of a suicide attempt or loss.
Postvention refers to the critical interventions conducted after a suicide within a school or community to support those affected, promote mental health, and prevent further tragedies. Health providers play an essential role in guiding the community through grief while ensuring that those most impacted receive the care and resources they need.
A well-executed postvention plan can foster healing and resilience, helping to prevent suicide contagion and future losses. For a full overview of how clinicians can approach youth mental health postvention, view the Clinician Toolkit.
1. Provide immediate support, education, and resources.
The aftermath of a suicide can leave students, staff, and families in distress, with many experiencing grief, guilt, confusion, or fear. Health providers should offer targeted mental health resources to the school and community, including crisis hotline numbers, counseling services, and grief support materials.
Additionally, misconceptions, blame, or stigma surrounding suicide can emerge in the aftermath of a tragic loss. Clincians should take a proactive role in educating the school community about suicide prevention, mental health, and help-seeking behaviors.
This may include conducting workshops on grief, resilience, and warning signs of concern, addressing misinformation, scapegoating, or stigma, and reinforcing messages that encourage seeking help without fear of judgment.
2. Offer guidance through a structure grief process.
Guiding the community through a structured grief process is essential to prevent prolonged trauma and emotional distress. Health providers should support schools in facilitating open, but structured, discussions about the loss while helping individuals return to routine and stability as soon as possible.
This may include partnering with school counselors to provide both individual and group support sessions, encouraging school-wide healing activities, such as memorial projects that focus on hope and resilience rather than the death itself, and assisting school staff in navigating difficult conversations with students.
3. Ensure appropriate steps are taken to prevent suicide contagion.
A key component of postvention is reducing the risk of suicide contagion, where exposure to suicide increases the likelihood of suicidal behavior in others.
Health providers should educate school administrators and the media on safe messaging to prevent the glorification or romanticization of suicide by emphasizing mental health support and coping strategies in public discussions, avoiding distribution of specific details about the suicide, including the method or location, and correcting misinformation and discourage sensationalized narratives.
4. Identify and support at-risk individuals.
Some individuals, such as close friends of the deceased, those with pre-existing mental health conditions, or students who have previously attempted suicide, may be at heightened risk following a suicide in their community.
Clinicians should collaborate with schools to proactively identify these individuals and provide additional care by implementing screening protocols to assess risk levels among affected youth, establishing peer support programs to create safe spaces for students to express emotions, or offering confidential counseling and referral services for those who may benefit from further intervention.
5. Partner with media to promote safe messaging
Media coverage of a suicide can significantly influence how youth and the broader community respond to the loss. Health providers should guide school leaders in working with media outlets to ensure responsible reporting that does not increase risk.
A few steps that can be taken include advocating for adherence to safe reporting guidelines to prevent sensational language or imagery, shifting focus from the suicide event to messages of hope, prevention, and available support services, and providing talking points for school officials and community leaders that prioritize mental health awareness.
6. Collaborate with community partners to enact a long-term support plan.
Establishing connections with local mental health organizations, crisis response teams, bereavement support groups, and faith-based and cultural organizations, can help ensure youth, families, and relevant community members have access to ongoing support, as they continue to heal and return to a regular routine.
7. Review existing promotion and intervention strategies and revise as needed to prevent future crises.
Every suicide event is an opportunity for communities to evaluate and improve their crisis response strategies. Clinicians should work with schools to assess the effectiveness of their promotion, intervention, and postvention response and make necessary adjustments to their suicide prevention protocols.
This may include conducting debrief meetings with school leadership and crisis response teams, identifying gaps in crisis response and recommend policy improvements, and ensuring that all school staff are trained in updated postvention practices.
Access the Clinicians Youth Mental Health Promotion & Suicide Prevention Toolkit
