Preventing youth suicide through cultural strengthening and the public health approach: The Wiconi Ohitika (Strong Life) Suicide Prevention Project

Nationally, Native American adolescents have much higher rates of suicide than other youth. The Aberdeen area (Northern Plains) has the second highest rate nationally, and Spirit Lake Nation, within that region, has had the highest suicide rate in North Dakota. In response, the Spirit Lake Nation created the Wiconi Ohitika (Strong Life) youth suicide prevention program, a culturally enriched approach to youth suicide prevention, based on the culture, language, values and history of the Spirit Lake Dakota. It promotes positive self-identity, increased self-esteem, and increased knowledge of the Dakota way of life. Cultural strengthening undergirds the suicide prevention program, which has implemented prevention activities within different levels of the social ecology, with: individuals, such as the American Indian Life Skills curriculum with high school students; families, including the Takoja Niwiciyapi parenting curriculum; organizations, for example, completion of a bi-annual health survey at the community college and gatekeeper training within the public school system; and the community, with extensive media campaigns, cultural events, and an active community coalition. The program integrates evidence based programs, process and outcome evaluation, and data used to inform program development. This presentation will provide examples of the program's integration of cultural strengthening with the public health approach, community based participation, and utilization evaluation to improve outcomes for youth and for the community. As Wiconi Ohitika develops and refines its methods for using culture as prevention for suicide and for evaluating the impact of those methods, the results can be implemented in other communities for further refinement.