Strategic Planning
How to Decide What to Do
Suicide prevention efforts are most effective when they are guided by a strategic planning process. Strategic planning can help you determine specific problems and populations on which to focus, identify activities that will be effective in preventing suicide, and prioritize your efforts to achieve maximum impact.
The Strategic Planning Approach
SPRC’s Strategic Planning Approach to Suicide Prevention includes the following six steps:
Whether you are starting a new program or assessing your progress midway through a project, you can use this approach to fit your needs.
Although these steps are listed in the order in which they would generally be carried out, you can also move back and forth between the steps as needed. For example, you may want to revise your long-term goals after identifying the key risk and protective factors. Or, if you are in the middle of a suicide prevention project, you may want to focus on the later steps in the strategic planning approach.