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Public Health Isle of Man
The purpose of Public Health on the Isle of Man is to protect and improve the health and wellbeing of the whole population of the Isle of Man and to reduce health inequalities. We operate through strong partnerships with individuals, communities and key public, private and voluntary organisations.
Our work in suicide prevention
Public Health plays a coordinating role in suicide prevention on the Isle of Man.
Our values include working systematically to alter the environment, improve lifestyles, and reduce risk factors across the population. We prioritise interventions that bring about change for the greatest number of people at an affordable cost, while championing approaches that empower individuals, families, and communities to take responsibility for their own health and wellbeing. We collaborate with partners across government, private, and third sectors to embed public health into all policies, enabling people to take responsibility for their health by ensuring they have the necessary skills and knowledge and live in environments and communities where healthy choices are the easiest choices.
Our current priorities
There has been a large increase in suspected suicides in recent months above the baseline of previous years. Our current priority is establishing real time suicide surveillance and postvention in an initiative we are calling Suspected Suicide Rapid Response.
Our current challenges
Understanding local trends, such as emerging methods, high frequency locations, clusters and vulnerable groups relies on cross departmental, cross sector information sharing. Monitoring the effectiveness of interventions also requires reliable and timely data. Our biggest challenge is satisfying the information defence infrastructure that this is necessary, proportionate, legal etc., etc.