Abstract for:Learning about shared risk and protective factors to promote comprehensive and collaborative approaches to prevent suicide and other risk-related forms of premature death by injury

There is considerable interest in comprehensive, integrated approaches to preventing suicide and deaths from violence or injury that share risk and protective factors (e.g., overdose). Yet, no models explore dynamics created between diverse ecological determinants and outcomes, to inform broad community efforts. Challenges include the complexity of interconnections among common upstream risk and protective factors, coupled with disconnected or singular policies and intervention-based evidence. Sustaining both behavioral and mental health-directed prevention remains a great challenge. Demonstrating “value-add” of positive spillover effects on other outcomes, attributable to preventing focal (often siloed) outcomes, may bolster investment and collaboration.

We have partnered with Colorado State (CO) and their key stakeholders, who are collaboratively initiating comprehensive county-based efforts to prevent suicide and risk-related premature deaths. In this Work-in-Progress, we will discuss feasibility and acceptability of assembling concept models for simulation as foundations for collaborative learning and comprehensive prevention. We will discuss inter-relationships involving common community risk and protective factors as prevention system features that underpin changes over time in CO’s premature mortality rates. We have created causal loop diagrams based on structured systems-thinking-based interviews with national stakeholders in CO’s efforts. We aim to discuss process and components for quantitative system dynamics models in county-level simulation.