Home SPRC > Populations and Settings > Older Adults

Scope Note: People age 65 and older.

Assessment of suicidal risk in adults and older adults
URL: http://www2.endingsuicide.com/TopicReq?id=1918
An online listing of interview, self-report, and screening tools for assessing suicide in adults in older adults, including behaviors, ideation, behaviors, risk, medical lethality, hopelessness, reasons for living, and provider attitudes and knowledge. Includes psychometric properties and references. Reproduced from a technical report submitted to the National Institute of Mental Health by GK Brown.
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Building community competence: The role of gatekeepers in preventing late life tragedies
URL: http://wdh.state.wy.us/Media.aspx?mediaId=1104
[10 pages]. This article describes one approach to a community-based suicide prevention program for home-dwelling and impaired at-risk elders. By training public and private citizens in surveillance, detection and referral skills, isolated and at-risk elders were identified for home visits by professional service providers. These trained “gatekeepers” become a life-saving link in the delivery of essential medical, psychiatric and social support services.
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Depression and suicide in older adults resource guide
URL: http://www.apa.org/pi/aging/depression.html
Lists recommended by the APA resources on the subject: journal articles; reports, monographs, and websites.
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Depression: Don't let the blues hang around
URL: http://www.niapublications.org/agepages/depression.asp
Age Page brochures series. Provides basic information on older adults depression: causes; symptoms; getting help; available treatments; and prevention.
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Elder suicide prevention: A review of best practices and recommendations for state initiatives in Maine
URL: http://www.sprc.org/library/elderSPmaine.pdf
This manual describes: evidence based practices of elder suicide prevention; screening tools for assessing elder suicide risk; best practices in elder suicide prevention across the U.S.; current training programs for direct care staff in other states; public awareness education campaigns; and funding sources that could support Maine in pursuing this issue further. Prepared for the Joint Advisory Committee on Select Services for Older Persons (JAC) and the Maine Department of Health and Human Services.
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Elderly suicide fact sheet
URL: http://www.suicidology.org/web/guest/stats-and-tools/fact-sheets
In 2004, suicide rates ranged from 12.3 per 100,000 among persons aged 65 to 74, to 16.3 per 100,000 persons aged 75 to 84, to 16.4 per 100,000 persons aged 85 and older. This fact sheet presents statistics on elderly suicides regarding gender, race, methods, the role of depression and substance abuse, and common risk factors. Click on Suicide and the Elderly [PDF] link.
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Elderly suicide: Secondary prevention
URL: http://www.nursing.uiowa.edu/products_services/evidence_based.htm
This evidence-based protocol provides information that will assist the nurse or other health care provider in recognizing at-risk suicidal behavior in the elderly and providing appropriate and effective crisis intervention. The goal is to decrease the occurrence of suicide among elderly individuals who have contact with nurses or other health care providers. 56 pages.
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Evidence-based practices for preventing substance abuse and mental health problems in older adults. - Excerpt: Prevention of co-occurring substance abuse and mental health problems
URL: http://www.samhsa.gov/OlderAdultsTAC/EBPCo-OccurringProblemssectionFINAL.pdf
This report discusses: demographic imperative for addressing late-life substance use and mental health problems; current terminology of the subject; published evidence base for the prevention and early intervention; and implementation issues that align with state needs and priorities. Five specific areas are addressed: alcohol misuse; medication misuse; depression and anxiety; suicide; and co-occurring substance abuse and mental health problems.
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National guidelines for seniors' mental health: The assessment of suicide risk and prevention of suicide (Canada)
URL: http://www.ccsmh.ca/en/natlGuidelines/suicide.cfm
National guidelines for seniors’ mental health series. Canada. The first interdisciplinary, national best practices guidelines to specifically address seniors’ suicide. These guidelines were written by and for interdisciplinary teams of health care professionals from across Canada.
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Older adults: Depression and suicide facts
URL: http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/older-adults-depression-and-suicide-facts.shtml
This web page presents facts, and summarizes research and treatment about older Americans and depression and suicide.
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Oregon Older Adult Suicide Prevention Advisory Work Group Plan
URL: http://oregon.gov/DHS/ph/ipe/esp/docs/plan.pdf
In 2003, Oregon had the fourth highest suicide rate among older adults in the US. This plan identifies three primary strategies to prevent suicide in older adults: clinically based suicide prevention; community-based suicide prevention; and public health surveillance, program evaluation, and research.
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Preventing Suicide and Depression: A Training Program for Long-Term Care Staff
Physical Location/Acquisition Information: available for purchase at: http://www.terranova.org/Title.aspx?ProductCode=IP/SDVHS
This one-hour training addresses the issue of suicide among older adults, suicidal behavior, warning signs, risk factors, prevention strategies, and treatment programs. It is presented in a style appropriate for all levels of staff. There is a cost associated with this training. See the website for details.
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PROSPECT (SPRC EBPP Fact Sheet)
URL: http://www.sprc.org/featured_resources/bpr/ebpp_PDF/prospect.pdf
A fact sheet that describes The Prevention of Suicide in Primary Care Elderly: Collaborative Trial (PROSPECT) intervention which combines treatment guidelines for community-dwelling elderly populations with care management for patients diagnosed as depressed. The fact sheet includes a description of the program, evaluation designs and outcomes, the intended audience, and targeted protective and risk factors.
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Senior Suicide: Understanding the Risk, Preventing the Tragedy
URL: www.spanusa.org/?fuseaction=home.download&folder_file_id=59FE2C07-CF1C-2465-17C131427ECF3013
This overview presentation reviews data by age, gender, state, and methods. It lists major risk factors and settings to access the at-risk population (including long-term care). It covers population-oriented and high-risk approaches for prevention.
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Special report: Suicidal behavior in the elderly
URL: http://www.psychiatrictimes.com/display/article/10168/47751
[Journal article]. Published in: Psychiatric Times, Dec 2003;XX(13). A review of the literature on the epidemiology of suicide in the elderly. Sections on risk factors and depression are included.
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Suicide Assessment and Prevention for Older Adults
URL: http://www.ccsmh.ca/pdf/CCSMH_suicideBrochure.pdf
This brochure describes how clinicians can recognize suicide risk, engage at-risk elders in the assessment process, perform an assessment, and address immediate and ongoing risk management. It also lists risk and resiliency factors, warning signs, and organizations that can provide additional information.
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Suicide prevention among older adults (SPRC Discussion Series)
URL: http://www.sprc.org/traininginstitute/disc_series/disc_4.asp
A presentation on the prevalence of suicide among older adults and ways to prevent suicide in that population. The Research to Practice Webinar webpage contains an author biography, PowerPoint slides, and an audio file of the discussion.
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Suicide prevention for older adults: Professional Reference Series, Vol. 1
URL: http://www.samhsa.gov/OlderAdultsTAC/docs/Suicide_Booklet.pdf
Summarizes the most recent studies on preventing suicide in older (59+) adults. Describes the National Strategy for Suicide Prevention goals and objectives for meeting the needs of older adults.
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