About LivingWorks

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Awards and Recognition

Cause of Death? (1982) - 16 minute film/video

  • Award of Merit, University of Calgary ComMedia entry in the Association for Media and Technology in Education in Canada Media Festival, Winnipeg, 1982.

It Begins With You (1987) - 29 minute video

  • Gold Medal Award, University of Calgary, ComMedia entry in the International Film and TV Festival of New York, 1987
  • Golden Apple Award, University of Calgary, ComMedia entry in the National Educational Film and Video Festival, Oakland, CA, 1988
  • Best Motivational Film, Best Actress, Best Actor Awards, University of Calgary, ComMedia entry in the Alberta Motion Picture Industry Awards, 1988
  • Red Ribbon Award, University of Calgary, ComMedia video entry in the American Film Festival, 1988
  • Panasonic Award, Best Post-Secondary Film, University of Calgary, ComMedia entry in the Association for Media and Technology in Education in Canada Media Festival, Halifax, 1988

LivingWorks Education

  • President's Export Achievement Award, The University of Calgary, for implementation of the Alberta developed suicide prevention training program in California, 1989
  • Export Achievement Award, Alberta Economic Development and Trade Department, for implementation of the Alberta developed suicide prevention training program in California, 1988
  • LivingWorks Education Inc. cited twice as an exemplary community gatekeeper-training program in Youth Suicide Prevention Programs: A Resource Guide, Center for Diseases Control Atlanta, 1992
  • International Business and Export Achievement Award, Calgary Economic Development Authority and the Mayor of Calgary, for the implementation of suicide prevention training in Australia, California, State of Washington and United States Army, 1997
  • LivingWorks success story. The President’s Report to the Community 1998/99 edition. University of Calgary, 1999
  • Knowledge Broker Award for leadership, research and analytical skill, and dedication to public engagement in policy development. National Policy Research Conference in Ottawa Canada, 2002
  • LivingWorks' ASIST program selected as one of Canada's gifts to the United Nations' Decade of a Culture of Peace, 2000-2009, and awarded the Canadian Commission for UNESCO Gifts for a Culture of Peace Award, 2009
  • 2010 Calgary Awards presented LivingWorks Education Inc. with the Community Achievement Award in Commerce on Wednesday, June 15th at the City of Calgary Municipal Building. The ceremony was filmed live on Shaw TV, Mayor Nenshi and many city Alderman were in attendance.

Principals

  • Bryan Tanney, Research Award, Canadian Association of Suicide Prevention, 1995
  • Roger Tierney, First Roger J. Tierney Service Award, American Association of Suicidology, 1998
  • Richard Ramsay, Dr. John H. Read Award for outstanding achievement in the area of injury control, Alberta Centre for Injury Control and Research, 1999
  • Richard Ramsay is recognized for advancing the visibility of social work internationally and pioneering work in suicide prevention training when he was awarded the International Federation of Social Workers Andrew Mouravieff Award, 2006
  • In 2009 Richard Ramsay, receives a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Alberta College of Social Workers for international work in suicide prevention and career long leadership in the social work profession at the local, provincial, national and international levels
  • Richard Ramsay, Service Award for a lifetime career in suicide prevention in Canada, Canadian Association of Suicide Prevention, 2010

Recognition

  • Certificate of Commendation, Governor, State of California, for implementation of California’s innovative youth suicide intervention training program, 1989
  • LivingWorks Education Inc. cited twice as an exemplary community gatekeeper-training program in Youth Suicide Prevention Programs: A Resource Guide, Center for Diseases Control Atlanta, 1992
  • Dr. Robert Litman (Theme Address). “Suicide: A Look Back and Ahead,” American Association of Suicidology (AAS), Phoenix, 1995. In his address Dr. Litman referred to a study comissioned by the State of California in mid 1980’s on youth suicide which called for: “a grass roots program of education in basic helping tasks for potential helpers such as probation officers, school counsellors, nurses, police officers and clinical professionals at every level.”
  • “ The recommendation was implemented by Bryan Tanney [and his colleagues Ramsay, Tierney and Lang, now LivingWorks Education] and has been going on ever since. There have been meetings and training sessions with some evidence that lectures have little effect but workshops can have some effect. [California is the] only state that has had a progressive reduction in suicide rates over the years. I would like to think there is among the California helpers knowledge of intervention and attitude that may be helpful in small ways, but small ways count. In fact I do think that program we gave for youth suicide prevention is a good one and should be extended widely.” (Litman, 1995)
  • Dr. Ron Dyck, Provincial Suicidologist, (Keynote Address). “Opening our Borders” Canadian Association of Suicide Prevention (CASP), Banff, Alberta, October 1995.
  • “ Let me give you a third success story... it is training. Something that the ‘boys of Alberta’ [Ramsay, Tanney, Tierney, Lang, now LivingWorks Education] have developed... What are the results? Well, there have been a number of evaluations of this particular workshop and what we find... what the data shows is an increased knowledge about suicide, a demonstrated improvement in intervention skills and abilities. There is an application of this knowledge and these skills in actual situations. There is perceived greater self-confidence and capability on the part of those who have been trained in dealing with persons at risk. That is really critical... increased confidence and increased sense of capability of being able to deal with those who are suicidal. Since 1983 more than 1,200 trainers have been trained and workshops have been delivered to about 65,000 [over 200,000 in 2000] people worldwide. That’s a lot of people. It’s an incredible workshop.

Let me tell you about some spin-offs. Dwayne Heinsen (a senior trainer and member of the RCMP) and I had dinner last night. Dwayne was talking about some work he was doing in Quebec with the Aboriginal RCMP and having the Mohawk Nation sitting together with the Quebec Police. You know the tensions, and to have them together, sitting together in a workshop like this can have spin-offs. Yeah there is a lot of tension, but by the end of that training people were working together... the Mohawk and the Quebec Police were in fact coming together and saying how we can affect suicide [prevention] in our communities.

A success story because the kinds of things we do have implications far broader than what we sometimes think about.” (Dyck, 1995)

  • SAMHSA (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration) Knowledge, Development and Application Grants. Project proposers selected LivingWorks programs in two of four SAMSHA funded youth suicide prevention evaluation projects, one in Colorado and one in Tennessee, 2001.