NEK resident to keynote Vermont suicide prevention symposium

Terri Lavely, a Northeast Kingdom resident and volunteer with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, will deliver a keynote address at the 2022 Vermont Suicide Prevention Symposium. The event, held virtually on September 29, 2022, is organized by the Vermont Suicide Prevention Center, a partnership between the Center for Health and Learning and the Vermont Agency of Human Services.

Lavely, who serves as Walk Chair and field advocate for AFSP's Vermont chapter, emphasized the community aspect of suicide prevention. "In the NEK we value mental health the same as all other aspects of wellbeing," she said. "It is powerful to see how we all come together as a community at events like the VTSPC symposium."

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, suicide rates in Vermont rose 46.5% between 2000 and 2016, the second-highest increase in the nation. Suicide remains the eighth leading cause of death among all age groups in the state.

The symposium will feature sessions on trauma-informed care, youth suicide prevention in primary care, supporting peer workforces, and post-crisis response, among others. Sponsors include the Vermont Department of Mental Health, Northeastern Vermont Regional Hospital, and North Country Hospital.

Registration is available at vermontsuicidepreventionsymposium.org.

Originally reported by Newport Dispatch.

Photo: Sydney Sang via Pexels. Photo is illustrative and not from the scene.