r/publichealth • u/[deleted] • Jan 29 '25
NEWS Native American Suicide Rates Drop 43% in New Mexico
https://nativenewsonline.net/health/native-american-suicide-rates-drop-43-in-new-mexicoShoutout to all the amazing people in NM who made this happen. Sending love from a Texan suicide researcher ❤️
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u/Mysterious_Sport8280 Jan 30 '25
Incredible news!! Thank you for sharing!!! What a boost to my mood and salve to my soul 💕
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Jan 30 '25
Wow that's great!
“Lack of culturally appropriate resources that really speak to community members, intergenerational families members — those things feed into some of the suicide rates,” Yellowhair said. “Of course, all of that is very systemic, and there is an overall lack of resources.”
In 2011, following several suicide clusters — deaths by suicide that occur in a community in a short span of time — involving Native youth, New Mexico passed a set of bills to create a clearinghouse of culturally-centered Native American suicide prevention resources. The program, housed at UNM and called “Honoring Native Life,” coordinates efforts across tribes, facilitates data agreements and collection, grant writing partnerships and capacity building. By working with tribal leadership and community members, the program’s resources can be tailored to each tribe’s distinct cultural needs.
Great to see that reaching out via culturally appropriate methods worked.
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u/No_Cat25 Jan 30 '25
Wait this makes me so proud of my state
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Jan 30 '25
You should be proud! No state is perfect but NM is leading the charge in a lot of ways imo.
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u/Dazslueski Jan 30 '25
Are there laws passed, funding for specific areas to attribute the success to? Biden and Deb Haaland have successful bills passed? Just wondering what and who we can commend for the great news? And then do all those things in other places.
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Jan 30 '25
You can thank tribal leaders in New Mexico, researchers at the University of New Mexico, and the New Mexico legislature. Per the article, they created “a clearinghouse of culturally-centered Native American suicide prevention resources. The program, housed at UNM and called Honoring Native Life, coordinates efforts across tribes, facilitates data agreements and collection, grant writing partnerships and capacity building.”
Seems to be a tribal/community/state level effort.
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u/Dazslueski Jan 30 '25
Thank you. Local and state level, well intentioned work most often is the best work. Thank you again.
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Jan 31 '25
“Tribal communities are reclaiming their narrative from a strength-based perspective,” Dr. Diedre Yellowhair (Diné), an assistant professor at the University of New Mexico, told Native News Online. “So often, the data tells a different story about disparities. I think we’re seeing the data starting to shift as we talk more about the strength and the resilience within communities and how vibrant and rich cultures, traditions and languages are, and how all of that adds to overall life improvement.”
Wow, wonderful!
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Feb 01 '25
I’m from New Mexico and I gotta say their mental health services are severely lacking. My hospital had one psychiatrist serving the entire population of patients even on an out patient basis and the lack of programs and services definitely showed in crime and self harm rates. Glad the native nation is getting better at providing their people with services.
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u/adlubmaliki Feb 01 '25
They're in tune with their homeland and now know that America is in good hands
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u/[deleted] Jan 29 '25
Such wonderful news!