2005 Annual Conference

SPAN Idaho
FIFTH ANNUAL SUICIDE PREVETNION CONFERENCE
Coming Together to Save Lives
November 16 – 18, 2005

SPAN Idaho was proud to present its fifth annual consecutive conference during November 2005. The conference provided an opportunity to learn about four vital areas of prevention, with workshops for First Responders, Youth Services, Faith-Based Services, and Survivor Support.

Outstanding Keynote Presenters

Inspiring Keynote addresses were given each day. SPAN Idaho welcomed Health Resources Specialist Peggy West, Idaho’s First Lady Patricia Kempthorne, and SPAN USA Director Jerry Reed who presented the national perspective on suicide prevention.

Concurrent Sessions

Workshop sessions explored challenging areas of suicide prevention, with information from experts from diverse professions such as physicians, nurses, emergency medical technicians, social workers, Idaho Police, psychiatrists, and importantly, survivors.

Pre-Conference

A dynamic selection of topics touched on the many needs of Idaho to support saving lives through suicide prevention. Highlights included a pre-conference Survivor Support Workshop by Sharon Katz, RN, PhD. Dr. Katz offered in depth information on societal myths of grief, understanding grief reactions in adults, children and teens, and mediating factors. For more information, see our website article on her presentation. A second pre-conference session provided training on advanced intervention skills by Roberto Negron, MD. Dr. Negron was part of the original founding board of SPAN Idaho and has been a long-time supporter of the effort to organize prevention efforts in Idaho. A third pre-conference offered information about developing core competencies for suicide prevention presented by Louisa Holmes of the Suicide Prevention Resource Center (SPRC) in Massachusetts.

Themed Tracks

Research on youth suicide prevention was presented by Michelle Moskos, MPH, PhD. Dr. Moskos shared her research and work with at-risk youth and their families in Utah. Youth services was well-represented by Louisa Holmes of the Suicide Prevention Resource Center in Massachusetts. Louisa has dedicated many hours to helping and supporting the development of resources in Idaho. Youth Suicide Prevention training was provided by Peter Wollheim, PhD, Director of Idaho Suicide Prevention Services and SPAN Idaho board member and co-founder. Trainings by Ramya Sundararaman, MD, MPH, Gary Young, Catherine Brown, PhD, and Dexter Hunt EMT-P focused on resources for First Responders. SPAN Idaho Board of Directors outgoing President, Dr. John Hanks, and Dr. Sharon Katz gave presentations on Faith-based topics, and the faith-based track was rounded out by a multi-faith discussion panel. Incoming President, Dr. Kirby Orme presented a moving session on survivor concerns along with important and helpful survivor presentations by Trudy Jackson and Linda Mael.

General Interest Sessions

The general sessions held on Friday provided a large variety of topics from national and Idaho speakers including elder suicide, teen suicide myths, military issues, self harm, secondary trauma and gatekeeper training.

Town Hall Meeting

An informal town hall meeting was held Thursday evening at which questions were posed to participants by moderator and SPAN Idaho board member, Steve Button, MSW. Representatives from every region of the state gave brief informal reports on prevention activities in their parts of the state. Everyone who wished to had the opportunity to share and ask questions of each other, SPAN Idaho staff and board, and representatives from national organizations SPAN USA and SPRC. This was a valuable and inspiring meeting which demonstrated to all that communities throughout the state are forging ahead to save lives.

The conference was SPAN Idaho’s most information-packed conference to date.