Our Priorities

Messaging and Communications is one of five Strategic Priorities that will direct the Action Alliance’s focus from 2024 to 2027.

By sharing consistent messaging and framing, the Action Alliance works to amplify efforts in a uniform way to drive change more quickly. Messaging does matter. Certain types of public messaging about suicide can increase risk among vulnerable individuals. Conversely, communications can be a powerful tool to promote hope and resiliency, encourage help-seeking, publicize prevention successes, and encourage actions that help prevent suicide. To be effective, suicide-related messages should support safety, help-seeking, and healing.

To promote safe and effective messaging about suicide, the Action Alliance will continue to work with the following three key groups:

• News media
• Entertainment media
• Public messengers

Watch this video for more information.

Additionally, how the field talks about different suicide prevention efforts can help to improve clarity, understanding, and alignment in mission and vision across organizations and for decision-makers. The Action Alliance will work with subject matter experts to develop consistent definitions and translate research into clear statements for the field in the following areas:

• Upstream prevention
• Health equity in suicide prevention
• Lethal means safety

Continue to check back for more information on how the Action Alliance will develop, disseminate, and align the field around research-informed messages to spur change through our Messaging and Communications Strategic Priority.

Messaging and Communications advances efforts in support of the 2024 National Strategy through the following:

• Strategic Direction 1: Community-Based Suicide Prevention
  • Goal 2: Support upstream comprehensive community-based suicide prevention.
  • Goal 3: Reduce access to lethal means among people at risk of suicide.
  • Goal 7: Implement research-informed suicide prevention communication activities in diverse populations using best practices from communication science.
• Strategic Direction 4: Health Equity in Suicide Prevention
  • Goal 12: Embed health equity into all comprehensive suicide prevention activities.

The Action Alliance and its partners seek to improve messaging by focusing on three key groups: public messengers, news media, and entertainment media.

Public Messengers

Many groups—nonprofit organizations, businesses, charitable foundations, and others—routinely disseminate messages about suicide in websites, social media, educational materials, and other print and digital communications. It is important that this information be conveyed in ways that support suicide prevention rather than increase suicide risk.

The Action Alliance’s Framework for Successful Messaging provides guidance and tools and outlines four critical areas to consider when messaging to the public about suicide. This resource can be used by anyone who develops and disseminates suicide-related content.

The 988 Messaging Framework provides general guidance about when and how to develop messaging about 988.

988 Formative Research is an important starting point for 988 messaging efforts. It is intended to produce insights that can be used by the field to make research-informed decisions about how to encourage help-seeking, including use and/or access to 988.

Learn more about 988 Formative Research:

• Groups Disproportionately Impacted by Suicide 
• Trusted Messengers to People Disproportionately Impacted by Suicide

News and Entertainment Media

Research has found that how news media reports on suicide and how entertainment media portrays suicide can either promote hope and help-seeking or increase hopelessness and contagion risk. As part of its efforts to change the conversation about suicide to one of hope and resilience, the Action Alliance has collaborated with members of the news and entertainment media to effectively develop news coverage and on-screen depictions that educate the public about suicide and suicide prevention.

News media: The Action Alliance is committed to working with news media to tell authentic stories of hope and resiliency, for example:

• Recommendations for Reporting on Suicide
• Collaborations with the news media

Entertainment media: In collaboration with entertainment partners, the Action Alliance seeks to equip content creators, scriptwriters, and producers with the tools and resources to tell more balanced and authentic stories involving suicide and suicide prevention. Authentic and thoughtful portrayals reflecting best practice guidance can support suicide prevention efforts by preventing contagion, encouraging help-seeking, connecting those in crisis with resources, and ultimately changing the way viewers think and talk about suicide.

Resources include the following:

• Mental Health Media Guide – A groundbreaking, comprehensive resource for content creators designed to help expand positive mental health portrayals
• National Recommendations for Depicting Suicide – Recommendations from the Action Alliance to help content creators, scriptwriters, and producers tell more balanced and authentic stories involving suicide and suicide prevention
• Collaborations in entertainment messaging – A collection of stories about the Action Alliance’s past work

Positive social connections have been identified as an important protective factor for suicide. When you take action to build connectedness and #BeThere for others, hope becomes a reality. 

The majority of adults (94%) in the U.S. believe that suicide can be prevented, at least some of the time, and 96% of adults in the U.S. would take action if someone close to them was thinking about suicide, according to a national poll released by the Action Alliance and partners in 2022.  

These findings, which build upon surveys conducted in 2020, 2018, and 2015, underscore the importance of equipping people with the tools and resources needed to feel empowered to have conversations about mental health and suicide prevention, and to take steps to care for their own mental health. 

Amplifying #BeThere Messaging Now and All Year Long 

The Action Alliance works collectively with its partners to leverage existing campaigns focused on educating the public about the ways they can take action to support themselves or a loved one who is struggling or in crisis.                                                            

For other information and resources that advance #BeThere messaging, please review Ideas for Action from SPRC, the CDC’s A Time for Connection Toolkit, SAMHSA's 988 Suicide Prevention Month Social Media Shareables, the Ad Council's Mental Health Tool Kit, and the American Hospital Association's Suicide Prevention Resources.

Learn why members of our EXCOM are involved in the work of suicide prevention, and what they could encourage people to do to promote hope and help seeking through #BeThere: Words from Our Executive Committee.
 

Suicide Prevention Month 2024

During September 2024, the Action Alliance and our partners will amplify suicide prevention messaging by adding #SPM24 to social media content. 

Suicide Prevention Month 2024 E-Blasts:

Through a series of e-blasts, the Action Alliance helps equip organizations with the necessary resources, tools, and events to plan for and participate in this important national conversation. This year, our content emphasizes the importance of crafting safe and impactful messages, guided by The Framework for Successful Messaging.

Click the links below for our 2024 E-Blasts:

• e-blast #1: Join us in Recognition of Suicide Prevention Month
• e-blast #2: Take Action With Us for Suicide Prevention Month + Today's 988 Day

Sign-up for our email updates to get all of our Suicide Prevention Month news in the future.    

Suicide Prevention Month (#SPM24) Calls to Action

• Take action to prevent suicide in your community.
• #BeThere for those who are disproportionately affected by suicide.
• Learn about the 2024 National Strategy for Suicide Prevention and take steps to implement it in your community. View the full strategy here.
• Develop effective messaging for suicide prevention, including the 988 Lifeline at 988messaging.org. 

Suicide Prevention Month (#SPM24) Calendar of Events

September 8: 988 Day

September 8-14: National Suicide Prevention Week

September 9: #BeThere Twitter/X Chat

September 9-13: Construction Suicide Prevention Week

September 10: World Suicide Prevention Day

National American Indian/Alaska Native Hope for Life Day

NABH National Strategy for Suicide Prevention Discussion

AFSP/The Policy for Maternal Mental Health Panel Discussion

September 11: NIMH/SAMHSA Livestream on Suicide Prevention in Health Care Settings 

September 16: AFSP/The Jed Foundation Webinar, “Everything You Want to Know About Suicide But Are Afraid to Ask.”

September 17: National Physician Suicide Awareness Day

September 26: National Law Enforcement Suicide Awareness Day

2024 #BeThere Twitter/X Chat | Monday, September 9, 1:00 p.m. ET

Thank you to everyone who participated in our annual #BeThere Twitter/X Chat! Find a full recap of the discussion by clicking here.

If you have questions about our #BeThere messaging efforts or our work to unite the field during Suicide Prevention Month, please email jbertolis@edc.org.