A biopsychosocial approach to suicide: Exploring the effectiveness of behavioral health programs in rural healthcare settings

Abstract

The phenomenon of suicide is not an isolated experience for one or a few demographics, but rather a public health concern that is applicable to anyone. Prevention and intervention for suicide has been an ongoing need in our country because, in addition to deaths by suicide, it is also important to consider those who sought help for thoughts of suicide. In rural settings, healthcare providers are limited in the amount of resources they can provide in addition to there are already being low amount of healthcare providers to begin with. Accordingly, the purpose of this study is to use the stress-diathesis model of suicidal behavior in conjunction with the biopsychosocial model of patient care to explore what is working well in behavioral health departments for suicide intervention. The method of analysis chosen for this study was a hybrid approach that incorporated both the deductive priori methodology and research questions and a data-driven inductive analysis. The nature of this study best aligns with purposive sampling. Participants must meet inclusion criteria and will complete 90-minute, semi-structured interviews. The current study emphasized the importance of clinicians’ voices on their experiences both when providing care for suicide and while working in rural and frontier healthcare settings; Specifically, our study revealed the need for follow-up care for the clinical providers themselves, how a sociocultural lens on suicide may positively impact patient outcomes, why normalizing suicide and patient free will is beneficial, and risk assessment is part of treatment planning because anyone can experience suicidality. We hope that findings can have transferability and importance for further research in the field to continue advancements in suicide prevention and intervention.