case study

Advancing Suicide Prevention
Informing policy, spurring action

The Goal:

Inform and impact policy on a national level to advance prevention of suicide, claiming 50% more American lives annually than homicide, and deemed by the 16th U.S. Surgeon General David Satcher to be a major public health threat.

The Tactic:

Create a unique "voice" for the field of suicide prevention with a glossy 4-color, 36-page publication - a health policy magazine delivered to 20,000 key leaders nationally. Use evidence-based content, but present in a compelling and engaging, reader-friendly way to best engage policymakers in all arenas relevant to suicide prevention.

The Rationale:

Despite being singled out as a public health arena sorely in need of funding to support further research and treatment, prevention of suicide in our country has been underfunded and underemphasized. By creating a glossy magazine to communicate the best of evidence-based findings to those who can spur further action - and delivering this content to the nation's change makers including all members of the U.S. Congress - the magazine, Advancing Suicide Prevention, continues to achieve what it set out to do, that is, inform and impact policy.

The Results:

Demonstrating results unprecedented for launch of a trade publication, Advancing Suicide Prevention, after its inaugural issue, got the attention of federal policymakers at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and state leaders including then-Florida Governor Jeb Bush. The magazine's second issue, within one month of its arrival, spurred formation of a task force in the State of Tennessee to address extraordinarily high rates for suicide in one rural county. The magazine became a credible source for major national media - both trade and consumer - including the Los Angeles Times, Tennessean, School Nurse News, Prevention Researcher, Edutopia and other media outlets.

The Biggest News:

Health policy leaders have suggested that Advancing Suicide Prevention, with its friendly format and solid evidence basis, may represent a new and effective model for informing policy. Why? Because it blends the best of consumer reader-friendly magazines with research-grounded content, communicated in an engaging way to busy policymakers who don't have the time or inclination to keep up with latest research findings presented in scientific journals.