The Office of Suicide Prevention presented statewide and county-level data showing higher suicide rates in rural Colorado and described local prevention programs targeted to agricultural communities.

Catherine Harvey, rural strategies specialist at the Office of Suicide Prevention, said Colorado’s rural suicide rate remains higher than urban areas and that the office has been funding local coalitions to address the problem. "Most people dying by suicide actually do not have a mental health diagnosis," Harvey said, summarizing coroners' circumstantial data she reviewed.

The office reported 189 deaths in the past 10 years among people identified by coroners as working in agriculture, forestry, fishing or hunting. Of those deaths, 92% were male and 66% were by firearm; the statewide average firearm share for suicide deaths was reported at 51%. The deaths were distributed broadly across adult age groups from 25 to 65.

Why this matters: the OSP said these figures show why locally tailored prevention is necessary. Harvey told the working group that many of the people who died had not been treated for a mental health condition, and that prevention work must therefore include community supports, stigma reduction and lethal-means safety in addition to treatment access.

OSP described the Colorado National Collaborative (CNC), a county-level suicide-prevention project that funds backbone organizations to convene local coalitions with health centers, nonprofits, schools, people with lived experience and other partners. Harvey said the CNC uses six pillars — connectedness; economic stability and supports; education and awareness; lethal means safety; access to safer suicide care; and postvention — as the framework for county work.

Examples cited: Montezuma County’s coffee-and-cattle gatherings (paid coffee for farmers to encourage informal connection); Pueblo County’s distribution of long-sleeve shirts with 988 and bilingual mental-health messaging to farmworkers; and a gunshot project that supplies suicide-prevention materials and site visits to gun shops, ranges and events staffed by respected local firearm owners.

OSP said it added 12 Eastern Plains counties to CNC as of April 1 using one-time funds and that the original CNC grantees’ grants are scheduled to expire in August. Harvey said future county participation depends on whether federal funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is available: "We're waiting to see if that is federal funding that will come through and that's how that's funded," she said.

The office also noted statewide campaigns and resources used to reach rural men and producers, including the Man Therapy public campaign and plans to develop more agricultural-specific materials.

OSP offered to share data and slide materials with working-group members and said a public suicide-data dashboard is available for county-level queries. The office encouraged local coalitions and individuals to contact OSP for technical help and for notification about future CNC funding opportunities.

Ending: OSP asked working-group members to help ensure locally funded CNC coalitions are representative of Spanish-speaking and other underrepresented populations in their counties, and to notify the office if they want direct alerts about future funding opportunities.