11/18/08 6PM
The Road to Preventing Suicide
Coleytown Middle School
Westport, CT
On Tuesday, November 18, please join members of your community on the "Road to Suicide Prevention" when keynote speaker Eric Caine, M.D. will address this significant public health issue at Coleytown Middle School, Westport. Doors open at 6:00 p.m. and refreshments will be served. This event is cosponsored by the Westport Weston Health District, the Connecticut Psychiatric Society, and St. Vincent's Hall-Brooke Behavioral Health Services. There is no charge, but registration is required. Please contact Monica Wheeler, RN at the Health District at 227-9571, ext. 242 by Thursday, November 13th to register.
Speaker Eric Caine, M.D. is the Chair of the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Rochester Medical Center, and Co-Director of the Center for the Study of Prevention of Suicide. Breakout groups, facilitated by mental health professionals, will meet following the presentation to discuss what next steps can be taken within our community.
Suicide is a public health problem that has an enormous effect on families, friends and neighbors, leaving them and their communities devastated. Too often, victims are blamed and their families are stigmatized. As a result, people do not communicate openly about suicide and an important public health problem remains shrouded in secrecy. However, it has been proven time and again, that the best line of defense in every public health issue is to raise awareness, identify what steps each person, family, and community can do to prevent the problem, and then take those steps. Join us - it's the first step!
Monica Wheeler, MSN, RN
Community Health Director
Westport Weston Health District
Ameet Lamba, MD
Chair, Disaster Psychiatiy Outreach of CT
Former President, CT Psychiatric Society
