1. Home
  2. Health Policy Brief: Understanding Suicide Risk and Prevention

Health Policy Brief: Understanding Suicide Risk and Prevention

Author/s: 
Miller, Benjamin F., Coffery, M. J.
Date Added: 
February 3, 2021
Publisher: 
Health Affairs
Publication Date: 
January 29, 2021
URL: 
Health Policy Brief: Understanding Suicide Risk and Prevention
Type: 
Meta-analyses, Reviews, and Guidelines
Format: 
Web Page
DOI (1): 
10.1377/hpb20201228.198475
Keywords 
mental health
suicide
public health
Suicide Prevention
Health Policy brief
MeSH 
Criminal Law
Suicide
risk factors
mental health

RPR Commentary

A summary of what we know about prevention of suicide written by someone who has been working hard to integrate primary and mental health care for years.  James WE. Mold, MD, MPH

Abstract

  • Suicide rates have been rising during the past several years, but suicide is preventable.
  • There are many known risk factors for suicide, but the predictive utility of any single risk factor is low, requiring a focus on population-level rather than individual-level prevention.
  • There are proven processes for identifying suicide risk and intervening in health care, criminal justice, and education settings.
  • There is also a need for an enhanced data infrastructure to support suicide and self-harm surveillance systems.
  • Additional policy intervention is needed to scale and spread successful prevention approaches and to identify others. For example, policies should support removal of lethal means, increased funding for help lines and school-based programs, and integration of mental health care into routine health care.

Text Availability

Free full text