Sources of Strength
GETTING STARTED:
Become a Sources of Strength trainer and begin a program at your school or district by visiting the Getting Started page at Sources of Strength. There, you'll fill out a questionnaire and initiate a Discovery call with a team member.
Mental Health Literacy Component Inventory
Understanding how to foster and maintain positive mental health: ADDRESSED
Understanding mental health disorders and their treatments: NOT ADDRESSED
Decreasing stigma: ADDRESSED
Understanding how to seek help effectively: ADDRESSED
Learning Standard Inventory
Based on learning standards provided by the Washington State Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction.
Compare & contrast emotional, mental + behavioral illness, mental well-being and concurrent disorders
YES
Identify school and community resources that can help a person with emotional, mental and behavioral health concerns
YES
Describe how self-harm or suicide impacts other people
Explain how to help someone who is thinking about attempting suicide
YES
Describe laws related to minors accessing mental health care
NO
Advocate for reducing stigma associated with emotional and mental and behavioral health
YES
YES
Sources of Strength is a best practice youth suicide prevention project designed to harness the power of peer social networks to change unhealthy norms and culture, ultimately preventing suicide, bullying, and substance abuse. Sources of Strength is one of the first suicide prevention programs that uses Peer Leaders to enhance protective factors associated with reducing suicide at the school population level. Sources of Strength Peer Leaders are a diverse group of individuals who leverage their personal and collective leadership qualities as well as their social influence in leading the charge in norming and culture change campaigns using strength-based messages to impact multiple issues including suicide.
Materials, Evidence and Implementation
SUPPORT MATERIALS
•Resources/Materials: Adult Advisors receive a manual. Students receive resource and campaign materials including peer leader videos, examples of messaging campaigns, feedback opportunity, and engagement with other peer leaders across the country through an interactive wall and Sources of Strength social media platforms.
•Fidelity Measure: Yes, Self-report checklist
•Student learning measure: Yes, The curriculum includes post lesson module tests and answer keys.
- 3 Studies (peer reviewed)
- 3 RCTs
- 453- 3,730 students (9-12th graders)
-"Training improved the peer leaders’ adaptive norms regarding
suicide, their connectedness to adults, and their school engagement, with the
largest gains for those entering with the least adaptive norms. Trained peer
leaders in larger schools were 4 times as likely as were untrained peer leaders to
refer a suicidal friend to an adult. Among students, the intervention increased
perceptions of adult support for suicidal youths and the acceptability of seeking
help. Perception of adult support increased most in students with a history of
suicidal ideation"
IMPLEMENTATION
•Program Material Cost: $5,000 1st year, $500 for subsequent years
•Modality: Presentation/Training
•Setting: Teacher PD, Online, small-assembly (roughly 10% of school)
•Grade level(s): K-12, post-secondary
•Who delivers the program: all school roles, peers
•Qualifications/Training needed?: Yes, ($ for the program includes training)
•Training Description: The training is delivered once per year. Then the team that was trained meets twice a month to plan activities.
•Virtual option? Yes
•Length: 2 'training sessions', 4-6 hrs per 'session'
GETTING STARTED:
Become a Sources of Strength trainer and begin a program at your school or district by visiting the Getting Started page at Sources of strength. There, you'll fill out a questionnaire and initiate a Discovery call with a team member.