FEATURED MEDICAL EDUCATION TOPIC: Suicide Prevention

What is the problem?

In 2024, 48,824 people died by suicide in the United States. Although recent trends suggest a modest decline, the suicide rate remains 32% higher than it was in 2000. Men die by suicide at approximately four times the rate of women. Among older adults, those aged 85 and older had the highest suicide rate of any age group in 2023. Within the 55+ population, men aged 85 and older experienced the highest rate—55.7 deaths per 100,000—and firearms remain the leading method of suicide among men across all older age groups. At the same time, the nation faces a persistent shortage of mental health professionals, leaving primary care to serve as the de facto mental health system for millions of Americans. Yet residency training in most primary care specialties still does not adequately equip frontline clinicians with the knowledge and skills needed to identify, assess, and mitigate suicide risk.

The practice gap: equipping primary care clinicians, who by default carry much of the nation’s mental health burden, to screen for suicide risk with validated tools, interpret what a positive screen requires, and act on it, including counseling on lethal means, rather than deferring to a specialty workforce that often isn’t there.

Proposed Learning Objectives

At the conclusion of this activity, the learners will be able to:

• Apply standard terminology used to characterize suicidal ideation and behavior across epidemiology, clinical practice, and research 
• Administer and interpret validated suicide risk screening and assessment tools to determine the appropriate level of intervention 
• Formulate a safety plan and conduct lethal means counseling with patients identified as at risk 
• Integrate evidence-based suicide prevention strategies into routine primary care workflow, including follow-up and care transitions

If you or someone you know is in crisis, call or text 988 to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, available 24/7. Clinicians can also access provider resources and safe messaging guidance at 988lifeline.org.

If your medical staff needs an update on suicide prevention, consider contacting our office to book a speaker at 714-505-4777 or info@speakersnetwork.com.

REFERENCES

https://afsp.org/suicide-statistics

https://www.psychiatryadvisor.com/features/suicide-statistics-us/

https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/suicide