Community Suicide Prevention in Tribal Communities
Author Information
Author(s): Meredith Stifter, Novalene Goklish, Charity Watchman, Kristin Mitchell, Jennifer Duncan, Michelle Miller, Mary HorseChief, Christopher G. Kemp, Mary Cwik, Emily E. Haroz
Primary Institution: Johns Hopkins Center for Indigenous Health
Hypothesis
What factors are important for implementing and sustaining a community suicide prevention program in diverse tribal communities?
Conclusion
The study identified key facilitators and barriers to implementing a suicide prevention program across various tribal communities, emphasizing the importance of staffing and tribal engagement.
Supporting Evidence
- Suicide is the second leading cause of death for American Indian youth.
- The White Mountain Apache Tribe has successfully implemented a suicide prevention program.
- Over 30 tribal communities have expressed interest in adapting the Celebrating Life program.
- Factors related to staffing and tribal engagement were identified as key to program success.
- Community resistance and stigma were noted as significant barriers to implementation.
Takeaway
This study looked at how different Native American communities can work together to prevent suicide, focusing on what helps and what makes it hard to do this important work.
Methodology
The study used an adapted nominal group technique to gather and prioritize facilitators and barriers to implementation from various tribal partners.
Potential Biases
Potential bias in coding due to interpretation differences among researchers.
Limitations
The study could not include one of the implementing teams due to their crisis response design, and some factors were open to interpretation during coding.
Participant Demographics
Participants included representatives from various tribal communities involved in suicide prevention efforts.
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
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