Elderly individuals are the greatest risk for completed suicide of all age groups in the United States, and in 2020, 25 people over the age of 65 died by suicide every day. Furthermore, geriatric depression and suicide risk often go under-identified and treated in primary care. However, primary care providers working with elderly patients at health centers and elsewhere have vital opportunities to intervene, and the Association of Clinicians for the Underserved has developed a new geriatric suicide prevention toolkit to help.
Developed by Dr. Virna Little, nationally known suicide prevention expert and Zero Suicide faculty member, ACU’s new “Suicide Safer Care: A Toolkit for Primary Care Providers Working with Geriatric Patients” provides an overview of unique considerations in preventing geriatric suicide, as well as applied strategies that primary care providers working with elderly patients at health centers and elsewhere can utilize. Read the toolkit to learn how to recognize common warning signs, understand risk factors, and incorporate effective geriatric suicide prevention practices and evidence-based interventions.
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More Resources on Geriatric Suicide Prevention
Further ACU Suicide Safer Care resources include our brief on geriatric depression, mental health, and suicide, as well as our webinar on general considerations in geriatric suicide prevention.
