Crisis
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The number of older adults is growing rapidly. This fact, combined with the high rates of suicide in later life, indicates that many more older adults will die by their own hands before rigorous trials can be conducted to fully understand the best approaches to prevent late life suicide. ⋯ The suggestions span a wide range and are offered for consideration by local groups preparing new interventions, as well as large scale public health care planning.
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Despite the growing strength of the field of suicidology, various commentators have recently noted that insufficient effort is being put into intervention research, and that this is limiting our knowledge of which suicide prevention strategies might be the most effective. ⋯ We need to redouble our efforts and make intervention studies our priority if we are to combat the global problem of suicide.
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The firearms climate in Ireland is rapidly changing, and there is currently no research on the risk profiles of those dying through firearms suicides. ⋯ The findings have implications for awareness training for suicide prevention workers and for those concerned with Ireland's increasingly liberal firearms climate.
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Patients admitted to hospital because of self-harm should receive psychosocial assessment before discharge. In practice many of these assessments in the United Kingdom and elsewhere are undertaken by trainee rather than specialist psychiatrists. ⋯ Despite making fewer aftercare arrangements that involved statutory mental health care services, psychosocial assessment by mental health nurses showed no sign of detrimental effects on repetition of self-harm.