Cover: Interventions to Prevent Suicide
Read Online

Interventions to Prevent Suicide

A Literature Review to Guide Evaluation of California's Mental Health Prevention and Early Intervention Initiative

by Joie D. Acosta, Rajeev Ramchand, Lisa H. Jaycox, Amariah Becker, Nicole K. Eberhart

Download eBook for Free

Full Document

FormatFile SizeNotes
PDF file 0.8 MB

Use Adobe Acrobat Reader version 10 or higher for the best experience.

Summary Only

FormatFile SizeNotes
PDF file 0.1 MB

Use Adobe Acrobat Reader version 10 or higher for the best experience.

A number of prevention and early intervention initiatives aim to reduce the incidence of suicide, and the authors evaluate these initiatives by reviewing suicide prevention (SP) literature to learn about SP program effectiveness and the methodologies previously used to evaluate SP programs. Using evidence from the literature review, they provide an overview of the epidemiology of suicides and of non-fatal self-inflicted injuries in California and present a framework for conceptualizing SP programs. They find that identifying whether a SP program was effective at reducing suicide deaths is challenging because suicide is such a rare event. They also find that programs may have differential effects on population subgroups, because suicide rates differ by age, race, and gender. Finally, they determine that SP programs may show immediate reductions in suicide attempts but their long-term effects are uncertain.

Table of Contents

  • Chapter One

    Introduction

  • Chapter Two

    Suicide in California: Epidemiology

  • Chapter Three

    RAND's Conceptual Model of Suicide Prevention Programs

  • Chapter Four

    Commonly Used Measures for Evaluating Suicide Prevention Programs

The research described in this report was prepared for the California Mental Health Services Authority and was conducted within RAND Health, a division of the RAND Corporation.

This report is part of the RAND Corporation Technical report series. RAND technical reports may include research findings on a specific topic that is limited in scope or intended for a narrow audience; present discussions of the methodology employed in research; provide literature reviews, survey instruments, modeling exercises, guidelines for practitioners and research professionals, and supporting documentation; or deliver preliminary findings. All RAND reports undergo rigorous peer review to ensure that they meet high standards for research quality and objectivity.

This document and trademark(s) contained herein are protected by law. This representation of RAND intellectual property is provided for noncommercial use only. Unauthorized posting of this publication online is prohibited; linking directly to this product page is encouraged. Permission is required from RAND to reproduce, or reuse in another form, any of its research documents for commercial purposes. For information on reprint and reuse permissions, please visit www.rand.org/pubs/permissions.

The RAND Corporation is a nonprofit institution that helps improve policy and decisionmaking through research and analysis. RAND's publications do not necessarily reflect the opinions of its research clients and sponsors.