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Three department of defense-funded public health approaches to reduce military suicide.
- Source :
- Suicide & Life-Threatening Behavior; Apr2021, Vol. 51 Issue 2, p334-343, 10p
- Publication Year :
- 2021
-
Abstract
- <bold>Background: </bold>Suicide is a serious and growing public health concern, both for the United States (U.S.) and for the Department of Defense (DoD).<bold>Methods: </bold>Using the social-ecological framework, we provide examples of how three newly developed, DoD-funded pilots/programs have incorporated a public health approach to help prevent military suicide.<bold>Key Results: </bold>The first two programs demonstrate how non-clinical, community-based approaches can be tailored to specific military subgroups at the individual, relational, and community levels. These programs include a universal suicide prevention program developed for Special Operations service members, spouses, and mental health providers, and a selective suicide prevention program pilot developed for military chaplains to support them in their role as a "gateway" to care for distressed service members, improve mental health and chaplaincy collaboration, and prevent burnout. The third program illustrates how the creation of and policy of a methodology/infrastructure to conduct standardized, theory-driven suicide death reviews across the DoD may inform the DoD public health approach to surveillance, review, and synthesis of suicide data, informed by the social-ecological model. Potential program limitations and evaluation efforts are discussed.<bold>Conclusion: </bold>Future prevention approaches should enhance coordination and communication between DoD, VA, and community organizations to enhance multi-level suicide prevention programming for military personnel, veterans, and civilians. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 03630234
- Volume :
- 51
- Issue :
- 2
- Database :
- Complementary Index
- Journal :
- Suicide & Life-Threatening Behavior
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 149901187
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1111/sltb.12709