During the Mental Health & Well-Being Summit, presenters Alyssa Mitchell and Marissa Gray, highlighted their work with the Utah Suicide Prevention Coalition, focusing on an employer toolkit for workplace suicide prevention. Below is a summary of their session:
With nearly 80% of suicide victims being of working age, supporting mental health in the workforce is critical. The toolkit follows the Stream Analogy, which divides suicide prevention into five stages: pre-action, upstream (preventing crises), midstream (addressing early warning signs), downstream (responding during a crisis) and where to get started.
Pre-action: Involves identifying tools to assess employee mental health and well-being. Organizations should evaluate their goals, discuss mental health openly, check on stressed employees and assess available support services. By proactively creating a plan, companies ensure they are prepared to address mental health challenges and respond effectively when needed.
Upstream: Focuses on creating protective factors by cultivating strong leadership. This includes normalizing mental health discussions, ensuring employees feel supported, observing awareness days, engaging in community involvement and using messaging that reduces stigma. These actions help foster a culture of openness and support within the organization.
Midstream: Involves identifying employees at risk by detecting early signs of mental health issues before they escalate. It involves promoting health benefits like insurance and EAP services, encouraging mental health engagement and training supervisors to have sensitive conversations that provide the appropriate support and resources for at-risk individuals.
Downstream: Focuses on how companies can respond effectively to mental health or suicide crises. It emphasizes promoting crisis resources, providing compassionate grief support and helping employees heal while ensuring they can return to the organization’s mission. This response plan fosters a supportive environment during difficult times.
Getting Started: The last section of this toolkit offers essential next steps and resources to guide organizations in implementing suicide prevention strategies. It includes worksheets and tools to help you begin building a mental health support system within your workplace, utilizing the available resources effectively to promote well-being and prevent crises.
To access the toolkit and take meaningful steps toward supporting mental health in your workplace, visit the Suicide Prevention in the Workplace Employer Toolkit. This resource offers valuable guidance and tools to help you implement effective strategies for suicide prevention and foster a healthier, safer work environment.
About the Presenters:
Alyssa Mitchell is the Zero Suicide Program Manager for the Utah Department of Health and human Services in the Office of Substance Use and Mental Health. Alyssa has worked in suicide prevention for 9 years. She is an experienced master trainer in evidence based programs Question. Persuade. Refer and Mental Health First Aid. In Addition to this she is the co-chair for the Workplace Workgroup of the Utah Suicide Prevention Coalition. Alyssa has a Masters degree in Public Administration and a Bachelor’s Degree in Health Promotion and Education.
Marissa Gray is the Senior Benefits Specialist at Big-D Construction, a rapidly growing national general contractor with about 1,700 associates. She spearheaded the development of comprehensive benefit and wellness programs. Outside of her day job, she is an executive member of the Utah Suicide Prevention Committee and co-chair of the Utah Suicide Prevention Workplace Workgroup, whose mission is the promote quality of life and prevent suicide. Marissa contributes to a safer, healthier workforce, ensuring benefits and resources are accessible and stigma surrounding mental health is continuously challenged.
About the 2024 Mental Health & Well-Being Summit:
The Utah Community Builder’s Mental Health & Well-Being Summit, sponsored by the Cambia Health Foundation, was held on November 7, 2024. Utah Community Builders, is a program of the nonprofit foundation of the Salt Lake Chamber. Utah Community Builders engages business leaders to address pressing community issues and to develop and strengthen Utah’s workforce. We harness the innovation and efficiency of the private sector to drive real progress on community issues affecting our businesses, workforce, families and all Utahns.
