Building a successful coalition will require a variety of professionals working together who bring specific skills, access to key resources, and an honest effort to complete the tasks at hand while focusing on a common goal. Factors that may determine size include, but are not limited to, developing a group of members who are already active in the community in the prevention of suicide. The members should be a group of dedicated individuals who collaborate on education, suicide prevention, leadership programs and interventions. There should be a board of members that carry out the decision making to build the coalition. These members should be leaders of the communities such as politicians, teachers, and psychiatrists. Since TASK is a coalition for suicide prevention, our members should also include people with expertise in certain fields such as mental health, behavioral psychology, social work among other things. These professionals are valuable resources in the prevention of suicide. There should also be established organizations included within the coalition that will provide strong and positive reinforcement. With both individual professionals and organizations working closely with the coalition there will be a wide variety of available assets and enhanced effectiveness.
Who Should Be In Charge?
A successful coalition must begin with a solid foundation. This foundation should be a variety of professionals as well as established organizations who shares common goals and visions as the coalition. TASK decided that the coalition should have a board of trustees that is comprised of the five panning committee members, Tennessee Suicide Prevention Network (TSPN), The Jason Foundation, The Department of Health as well as a representative of DOH , a Senator, Congressman, the Chairperson of the School Board physicians and Educators. Tennessee Suicide Prevention Network (TSPN) began in 1999 after the Surgeon General at that time Dr. David Satcher, called...