Overview

Roots of Hope is a multi-site, community-led initiative, with the Mental Health Commission of Canada, that aims to reduce the impacts of suicide within communities across Canada. The project builds upon community expertise to implement suicide prevention interventions that are tailored to the local context. It will lead to the development of an evidence base, including best practices and suicide prevention guidelines and tools, to support the scale up and implementation of a “made-in-Canada” model across the country. Roots of Hope is currently being piloted in Colchester County (Northern Zone), Nova Scotia. This initiative is a collaboration between Nova Scotia Health and the community by those with lived experience to develop initiatives that includes at least one activity under each of the 5 Pillars of the Roots of Hope model. The following constitute the 5 pillars of the Roots of Hope model: • Specialized supports: includes a range of possible prevention, crisis and postvention services • Training and networks: designed to better equip community gatekeepers by providing access to training and ongoing learning opportunities • Public awareness campaigns: locally driven campaigns (posters, brochures, social media, etc.) that promote mental health awareness • Means safety: support communities to identify "hot spots", which are the methods or places where a high number of suicides occur, and to implement measures to restrict access to these methods of suicide • Research: to increase the suicide prevention evidence The Department of Health and Wellness awarded funding for this initiative in the Fall 2020 with deliverables expected by March 2025. This work is in alignment with the NS Suicide Prevention Risk and Reduction (SPRR) Framework and hopes to serve as a model to demonstrate how Tier 2 supports can be identified and resourced in Nova Scotia.