News Network: Rural Suicide Project Gets People Talking
This story was produced as a project for the 2018 California Fellowship, a program of the Center for Health Journalism at USC Annenberg.
Other stories in this series include:
Q&A: How CapRadio Found Data On Suicides In Amador County
CapRadio Healthcare Reporter Examines Rural Suicide In Amador County
Why Veterans Face Heightened Suicide Risk in Amador County and Other Rural Areas
Where are the psychiatrists? Amador County and rural California hit hardest by physician shortage
How Suicide Trainings, Community Connections Could Patch Holes In Amador’s Mental Health Safety Net
Dying To Get Out: Stigma, ‘Copycat Effect’ Drive Youth Suicide In Rural Amador County
Chronic Loneliness Is A Major Cause Of Suicide For Seniors, Especially in Rural California
The ‘S’ Word: How Suicide Is Devastating Amador County And Rural Communities
Due to Amador County’s mental health workforce shortage, residents here drive many miles on windy roads to seek care in Sacramento, Placerville or the Bay Area. (Photo: Vanessa S. Nelson / Capital Public Radio)
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.]