Suicide prevention strategies for older persons-An integrative review of empirical and theoretical papers.
Anne Lise Holm, Elin Salemonsen, Elisabeth Severinsson
PMID 33619899WHAT IT FOUND
Nurses caring for older adults can help prevent suicide by recognising depression and pain, asking directly about suicidal thoughts, arranging urgent referrals, and strengthening social support.
The review found no single proven strategy.
Key findings
01The review organised suicide prevention strategies into recognising health problems and referral, gatekeeper training, educational programmes, communication about warning signs, and social support.
02In nursing homes with trained staff, staff were better prepared, suicide detection involved more of the team, and more management measures were taken than in untrained homes.
03Older men in primary care were open to discussing suicide when providers talked about depression, the impact on others, and staying active.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
It is an integrative review of a small number of studies, so it cannot establish which strategy is most effective. Many included studies were observational, retrospective, or theoretical rather than randomised trials. No study was excluded because of methodological quality. The search was limited to English-language articles. Requiring specific words in titles may have missed relevant studies. The included studies came from different countries and cultures, which may limit generalisability.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read this as evidence that one suicide prevention strategy works for older adults. The review combined small observational studies, qualitative work and theoretical papers, and it did not exclude studies for poor methodological quality.