Together With Veterans (TWV)
Together With Veterans
Overview
Together With Veterans (TWV) is a community-based suicide prevention program for rural Veterans. TWV involves partnering with rural Veterans and their communities to implement community-based suicide prevention. TWV is funded by the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) Office of Rural Health (ORH).
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The Partnership
TWV is carried out via collaboration between the Rocky Mountain MIRECC (Mental Illness Research, Education, and Clinical Center) for Suicide Prevention, the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education Behavioral Health Program (WICHE BHP), local Veterans, and other community stakeholders. Through these partnerships, TWV supports the dissemination of best practices in public health suicide prevention to rural communities consistent with the goals of the National Strategy for Preventing Veteran Suicide.
Together with Veterans Summit 2022
Broomfield, Colorado
Guiding Principles
Veteran-Driven
- Veterans provide permission and work together to implement TWV in their community
- Veterans provide leadership to guide the TWV process
Collaborative
- Community partners play a key role in successfully supporting Veterans and their families
- Community partners who are informed and educated about suicide prevention, and Veteran/military culture are better equipped to address the needs of Veterans
- Collaboration and education will strengthen the suicide prevention network for Veterans, their families and friends
Evidence-Informed
- TWV strategies are drawn from well-researched models that have been shown to effectively reduce suicide
Community-Centered
- TWV partnerships develop a unique suicide prevention action plan based on community strengths and addressing community needs
- TWV action plans are reviewed and revised as needed to promote success
Five Phases
The Together With Veterans Suicide Prevention Strategies below are implemented using a five-phase process to support rural communities in developing a local Veteran suicide prevention action plan.
BUILD YOUR TEAM
• Inform Veterans and community members about Veteran suicide and Together With Veterans
• Establish a Together With Veterans Team
• Begin identifying TWV Steering Committee
LEARN ABOUT YOUR COMMUNITY
• Continue to build the Team by adding community partners
• Assess community strengths and needs through a Community Readiness Assessment Focus Group and a Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats Analysis
TEACH YOUR TEAM
• Team members learn individual suicide prevention skills
• Team members learn community-based suicide prevention strategies that will be used for developing the Action Plan
PLAN FOR ACTION
• Review assessment results to understand community strengths and needs
• Identify available resources to support community-based suicide prevention strategies
• Develop Action Plan for each community-based suicide prevention strategy
FOLLOW YOUR PLAN AND MEASURE YOUR RESULTS
• Track activity and results of action items
• Review information from TWV Community-Based Suicide Prevention Strategies Presentation in preparation for discussing each strategy
• Continually refine actions as needed
Six Strategies
Six evidence-based suicide prevention strategies are used by TWV to support the local planning efforts. These strategies are designed for community-wide implementation to increase awareness and knowledge about Veteran suicide and improve community response to the needs of local Veterans.
If you are a healthcare provider serving Veterans in your community and are interested in receiving Lethal Means Safety training, you may access a free one-hour webinar through VHA TRAIN. Click here to learn more. Please note, creating an account is required to access this content.
Last Updated 12 June 2024
