The mission of the La Crosse Area Suicide Prevention Initiative is to promote awareness of suicide and to address this as a serious public health problem. This year’s event is Thursday, September 19, 2024, from 8:45- 4:15 at the Student Union, UW-La Crosse.

Their keynote speaker, Sara Kohlbeck Ph.D., Public and Community Health, Assistant Professor, Medical College of Wisconsin will present “Implementing Suicide Review: A Pathway to Prevention”. Fatality review is an evidence-based practice that helps with the prevention of unintentional and intentional deaths. Suicide review is a relatively new community of practice but is proving to be very useful. Her afternoon keynote is “Using Storytelling to Understand Suicide in Wisconsin”. A lot of our understanding of suicide comes from vital statics and epidemiological surveillance. Using storytelling, including interviews, can provide much needed context to help us understand suicidal thoughts and behaviors.

In addition to the keynote addresses, there are concurrent sessions in both the morning and afternoon. Other topics that will be discussed are: Ways to prevent burnout, Survivors and resilience, Brain Injury and suicidal risk, Factors that may contribute to suicide and veterans, Finding a way out of the dark tunnel, Suicidal thoughts and autism, Prevention for Faith Leaders, Resiliency among non-practitioners and Year-round counseling services.

Registration is required HERE.