Interior Feature

About SPAN USA a division of AFSP

Mission:

The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) is the leading national not-for-profit organization exclusively dedicated to understanding and preventing suicide through research, education and advocacy, and to reaching out to people with mental disorders and those impacted by suicide.

 

Purpose:

SPAN USA is dedicated to preventing suicide through public education and awareness, community engagement, andfederal, state and local grassroots advocacy. By empowering those who have been touched by suicide, SPAN USA seeks toadvance the implementation of the National Strategy for Suicide Prevention.

  • Suicide Prevention Action Network USA (SPAN USA) believes in:

    Changing Policy...
    • Collaboration: SPAN USA values the power of partnership and believes in engaging key stakeholders, especially those whose lives have been touched by suicide, in order to strengthen our nation's response to suicide
    • Action: Information should be available and linked to action. Utilizing the best-available science, suicide prevention efforts should provide resources and education to every level of society, and action must be taken to remove barriers (such as of lack awareness, 'shame and blame', and inadequate access to care) in order to address the problem of suicide

Vision:

Suicide Prevention Action Network USA (SPAN USA) envisions a world where suicide prevention is embraced as a public priority by all members of society, where people touched by suicide are supported, and where communities link awareness with action in order to save lives.

 

Values:

  • To fully achieve its mission, AFSP engages in the following Five Core Strategies:
    • Funds scientific research
    • Offers educational programs for professionals
    • Educates the public about mood disorders and suicide prevention
    • Promotes policies and legislation that impact suicide and prevention
    • Provides programs and resources for survivors of suicide loss and people with mood disorders, and involves them in the work of the Foundation

Program Goals:

  1. Survivor Engagement: Create opportunities for the individuals, families and communities who are the survivors of suicide and suicide attempts to effectively identify, advocate for and pursue suicide prevention action and initiatives.
  2. Community Organization: Engage communities of shared interest or experience in identifying and advocating their own suicide prevention needs, as well as participating in partnerships to implement the National Strategy for Suicide Prevention.
  3. Translational Research: Provide attempters, survivors, health professionals and the entire community with knowledge, skills, tools, and guidance to enable them to take effective action to help prevent suicide.
  4. Suicide Prevention and Public Health: Build the broad public will that can sustain and advance policies that support the public health approach to suicide prevention.