Developing a Community-Based Suicide Prevention Program in Primary Health Care Publisher Pubmed



Farahbakhsh M¹ ; Azizi H^{2, 3} ; Fakhari A^{4, 5} ; Esmaeili ED¹ ; Barzegar H⁴ ; Sarbazi E¹ Show Affiliations
Source: Community Mental Health Journal Published:2022

Abstract

Currently, suicide has become one of the most critical public health challenges in low-and middle-income countries facing community mental health more broadly. However, most healthcare systems haven’t efficient Suicide Prevention Programs (SPP), and only 18% of countries have a suicide registry system. In Malekan County of Iran, suicidal behaviors were recognized as a serious public health issue via a health community assessment. This study was aimed to describe the developing steps of a community-based SPP in Malekan County including review of systematic reviews, expert testimony, report to the health system, improving suicide registry coverage, conducting research, follow upping of suicide attempters, training gatekeepers, and public education campaign in the hot spots. These suggested the need to reinforce evaluate the effectiveness of the national health perspective in addressing the issues of suicide and suicidal behavior. © 2021, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.