The high rate of suicide in rural areas has been the focus of CapRadio Health Care Reporter Sammy Caiola’s reporting for the last year. She spent months getting to know the county of Amador and the people who reside there, and she recently finished production on a four-part series “Rural Suicide: One California County's Fight To Save Lives.” Caiola shares stories from her project and explains how the community has been reacting to her reporting.

Amador has the third highest suicide rate in California. All of the top-ranking counties on the list are rural, and people are trying to address the situation with the resources they have. Stephanie Hess is the Mental Health Programs Coordinator for Amador County and she joins the conversation to talk about resources and what county officials hope to do now that the conversation about death by suicide has started.

[This story was originally published by Capital Public Radio.]