TY - JOUR T1 - Systems change for suicide prevention among adolescents: a rural Wisconsin county approach JF - Injury Prevention JO - Inj Prev SP - 131 LP - 136 DO - 10.1136/injuryprev-2019-043525 VL - 27 IS - 2 AU - Sara Kohlbeck AU - Nicole Fumo AU - Stephen Hargarten Y1 - 2021/04/01 UR - http://injuryprevention.bmj.com/content/27/2/131.abstract N2 - Background Suicide is the tenth leading cause of death in Wisconsin. Between the years 2012 and 2016, rural counties in Wisconsin had statistically significantly higher rates of suicide than urban counties. Counties in northern and western Wisconsin have some of the highest rates of suicide, with several counties having rates nearly double the state suicide rate for the same time period.Study aim This study investigates the utility of a systems-level, primary prevention suicide prevention strategy in reducing suicide in a rural Wisconsin county. This project focuses upstream to promote behavioural health resiliency and decrease risk factors for suicide.Results County-level suicide rates decreased over time. Youth Risk Behaviour Survey results demonstrate that the percentage of students in the high school who report that they have an adult in the school to turn to for support increased by 11%. In addition, the number of students reporting a suicide attempt over the past 12 months decreased from 8.4% to 7.2%. Trust among project partners remained above 75% across the three survey timepoints, and the results demonstrated that power became more equally dispersed over time. There was an increase in community knowledge in where to go for help in an emotional crisis.Discussion Systems change to prevent suicide is a complex undertaking but can affect change at the county level. In our study county, we learnt that a strong implementation body (our Partnership Council) and buy-in from key partners is essential in creating change at the systems level. ER -