Michael Pyne of HealthWest speaks to attendees of the fourth annual Upper Peninsula Suicide Prevention Conference. The conference, held Friday at the Holiday Inn of Marquette, aimed to bring professionals from across the U.P. together for education, networking and collaboration. (Photo courtesy of the Marquette County Health Department)

MARQUETTE — It can take many voices, perspectives and approaches to address an issue as challenging as suicide prevention.

For this reason, Upper Peninsula professionals came together Friday for the fourth annual U.P. Suicide Prevention Conference held at Marquette’s Holiday Inn.

The conference, organized by Dial Help and the Marquette County Health Department with funding from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, aimed to bring a diverse array of people who work in suicide prevention and related fields together for networking, education, support and more, organizers said.

“One of our main goals when we have our U.P. Suicide Prevention Conference is to bring together people from all across the U.P. in one room to learn information, to network, just to be able to hear what each other are doing,” Marquette County Health Department Health Educator Sarah Derwin said.

With the area’s providers spread out over a large geographical area, it’s particularly important to hold this type of conference in the U.P., she said.

“We are in a very rural area up here and there may be just one person in a county that does the type of work that they do,” Derwin said. “But then they get to come here and see a likeminded group of people in the room and people that are doing the work. So I really feel the conference feeds into promoting connectedness.”

The conference featured speakers from around the Upper Peninsula and the state, as organizers wanted to present a wide range of educational opportunities for attendees, they said.

Attendees had a chance to hear from two keynote speakers during the conference’s morning session: Michael Pyne of HealthWest, who gave an overview of suicide in society and Kate Hardy, CEO, founder and president of nonprofit organizations Six Feet Over and Suck It! Suicide.

Hardy told attendees about the mission of Six Feet Over, a Detroit-based nonprofit that provides information, resources and financial assistance to those who have lost a loved one to suicide.

It’s the only nonprofit organization in the nation to provide financial assistance to those who have lost someone to suicide, she said, noting the nonprofit can help families pay for expenses such as funerals and memorial services.

Beyond the financial assistance aspect, the organization works to support loss survivors in other ways, Hardy said.

“We connect them with as many local resources as we can find to give them support and a sense of community,” she said.

On the other side of the coin, Suck It! Suicide is an outreach-based suicide prevention organization that aims to literally “meet people where they’re at,” by setting up booths with merchandise and personnel at concerts, bars and other places where people go to “have a good time and feel comfortable,” Hardy said.

Those who visit the booth can ask questions, learn more about mental health resources, or just have a chance to openly speak to someone about mental health without fear of jargon or judgment, she said.

“I answer the questions that they might feel otherwise really awkward about asking somebody,” Hardy said. “And sometimes it’s easier to talk to a stranger than it is your doctor or a close friend or family member.”

To learn more about Six Feet Over and its services, visit www.sixftover.org or call 313-723-0373.

Attendees also learned about a variety of Upper Peninsula suicide prevention efforts.

Dial Help staff presented on Dial Help’s Teen Outreach Plan, which has been implemented in Houghton to address anxiety and depression in local teens, Dial Help Rural Coordinator Kristine Putz said.

“I’m hoping some other people might hear about this program and want to bring it to their communities too,” Putz said.

Further U.P. suicide prevention efforts were shared by Marquette County Health Department staff, who spoke about extensive work done over the past years with support from a four-year grant from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, while clinicians from NorthCare Network spoke about substance use disorders and suicide in the Upper Peninsula.

“I hope our community knows that we do have a lot of people in the field that are working really hard and trying to save lives,” Derwin said.

While it can be difficult to discuss issues such as suicide and mental health, it’s important to hold conferences like this, organizers said, as the more it’s talked about, the more barriers can be broken down.

“Ultimately, what we really want is people to view (suicide) as a health issue,” Putz said.

Overall, it’s important for providers to know that they are not alone in their work and for the community to know that resources are available, organizers said.

“Sometimes there’s this feeling in the Upper Peninsula — and I feel it too — that we’re rural, we’re isolated and there’s not enough providers up here. And all of that is true to some degree — we don’t have a lot of psychiatrists up here for example — but we’re really trying to pull resources together,” Putz said. “And coming to something like this helps people to see … that we’re not so rural and so isolated that we can’t do anything about this. Because we can.”

If you or someone you know is in crisis, text “SIS” to 741741 to speak with a trained counselor or call 1-800-273-8255 to reach the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline.

Cecilia Brown can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 248.