— With the goal of saving lives and lowering suicide statistics in 2020, Southern Winds Hospital has launched a new community-based suicide prevention program. Hialeah-based Southern Winds Hospital seeks to promote life-saving awareness, education and communication about suicide prevention and mental health services. Using bilingual hashtags — #OK2CHAT in English and #HablarSalvaVidas in Spanish — Southern Winds Hospital plans to highlight the importance of sharing honest conversations about suicide prevention, depression, anxiety and other mental illnesses.
Around 43.8 million adults experience some type of mental health problem each year. On a global basis, someone dies from suicide every 40 seconds, which equals roughly 1 million suicides a year, according to international data.
The new suicide prevention campaign from Southern Winds Hospital will distribute educational materials, mental health resources, statistics and insights from trained medical professionals using digital news outlets, social media, television and radio, a prominent billboard, blog posts and community seminars. The campaign will include promotion of local and national suicide prevention resources, including the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, which provides free and confidential emotional support to people in suicidal crisis or emotional distress 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, across the United States.
“We seek to save lives and lower suicide statistics in 2020 and beyond,” said Ana Bovo, MSW, Chief Executive Officer of Southern Winds Hospital. “We are committed to providing a safe space for life-saving conversations about suicide prevention, mental health and addiction. Within the community, suicide prevention deserves the same attention and commitment provided to other major health crises.”
The suicide prevention campaign — #OK2CHAT and #HablarSalvaVidas — will start on Monday, December 9 and will focus on the importance of developing conversations about suicide, recognizing the signs for those at-risk and seeking professional help to prevent tragedy. The bilingual campaign take place as Southern Winds Hospital completes a major renovation of its top-tier in-patient facility, continues to expand its excellent team of psychiatric professionals and upgrades its robust out-patient program.
The #OK2CHAT and #HablarSalvaVidas campaign will involve weekly messages and insights built around the C.H.A.T. acronym:
C Check for symptoms
H Hear the Issues
A Assist Appropriately
T Talk With Someone
For more information please visit the #Ok2Chat and #HablarSalvaVidas website