American journal of preventive medicine
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Suicide is a leading cause of death in the U. S. As both the rate and number of suicides continue to climb, the country struggles with how to reverse this alarming trend. ⋯ Other resources will have to be built, perhaps by enhancing existing federal surveillance systems or constructing new ones. The article concludes with suggestions for immediate and longer-term actions that can strengthen public data resources in the service of reducing suicide in the U. S.
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Suicide in later life is a major public health concern in the U. S., where more than 6,000 older adults take their own lives every year. Suicide prevention in this age group is made challenging by the high lethality of older adults' suicidal behavior; few survive their first attempt to harm themselves. ⋯ Second is research on the impact of general health promotion that optimizes well-being and independent functioning for older adults on suicide outcomes. Third concerns the study of approaches to the provision of mental health care that is evidence-based, accessible, affordable, acceptable, and integrated with other aspects of care. The fourth area of high priority for research is approaches to improvement of social connectedness and its impact on suicide in older adults.
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This paper summarizes recommendations made regarding the National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention Research Prioritization Task Force's Aspirational Goal 2, to "determine the degree of suicide risk (e.g., imminent, near-term, long-term) among individuals in diverse populations and in diverse settings through feasible and effective screening and assessment approaches." We recommend that researchers shift to using "design for dissemination" principles to maximize both the goodness of fit and validity of screening and assessment measures for a given setting. Three specific recommendations to guide research efforts are made to achieve this shift: (1) the parameters related to each setting, including the logistics, scope of practice, infrastructure, and decision making required, should be identified and used to choose or design screening and assessment instruments that have a good fit; (2) to the greatest feasible extent, technology should be used to support screening and assessment; and (3) researchers should study the best methods for translating validated instruments into routine clinical practice. We discuss the potential barriers to implementing these recommendations and illustrate the paradigm shift within the emergency department setting.
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The Research Prioritization Task Force of the National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention conducted a stakeholder survey including 716 respondents from 49 U.S. states and 18 foreign countries. ⋯ Qualitative and mixed-methods research are essential to the future of suicide prevention work. By design, qualitative research is explorative and appropriate for complex, culturally embedded social issues such as suicide. Such research can be used to generate hypotheses for testing and, as in this analysis, illuminate areas that would be missed in an approach that imposed predetermined categories on data.
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The National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention Research Prioritization Task Force (RPTF) has created a prioritized national research agenda with the potential to rapidly and substantially reduce the suicide burden in the U.S. if fully funded and implemented. ⋯ The Stakeholder Survey yielded widely valued research targets. Findings were diverse in focus, type, and current phase of research development but tended to prioritize practical solutions over theoretical advancement. Other complex public health problems requiring input from a broad-based constituency might benefit from web-based tools that facilitate such community input.