Exploring the use of telephone helpline pertaining to older adult suicide prevention: a Hong Kong experience

In many countries, the suicide rates of older adults are far greater than the younger population (World Health Organization, 2014), and, as many societies are facing the rapid ageing issue, thus interventions that reduce suicides among the elderlies are imperative. Conventional suicide prevention strategies tend to focus on psychiatric treatments for suicidal persons, but given the high medical cost and the rarity of suicides, this approach - attending a small group of high-risk individuals in the health care system - however is likely to have limited impact on reducing suicides at the population level (Lapierre et al., 2011; Lewis et al., 1997; Yip et al., 2014).
Source: Journal of Affective Disorders - Category: Neurology Authors: Tags: Research paper Source Type: research