A Systematic Review of Evaluated Suicide Prevention Programs Targeting Indigenous Youth
Abstract
Background: Indigenous young people have significantly higher suicide rates than their non-indigenous counterparts. There is a need for culturally appropriate and effective suicide prevention programs for this demographic. Aims: This review assesses suicide prevention programs that have been evaluated for indigenous youth in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United States. Method: The databases MEDLINE and PsycINFO were searched for publications on suicide prevention programs targeting indigenous youth that include reports on evaluations and outcomes. Program content, indigenous involvement, evaluation design, program implementation, and outcomes were assessed for each article. Results: The search yielded 229 articles; 90 abstracts were assessed, and 11 articles describing nine programs were reviewed. Two Australian programs and seven American programs were included. Programs were culturally tailored, flexible, and incorporated multiple-levels of prevention. No randomized controlled trials were found, and many programs employed ad hoc evaluations, poor program description, and no process evaluation. Conclusion: Despite culturally appropriate content, the results of the review indicate that more controlled study designs using planned evaluations and valid outcome measures are needed in research on indigenous youth suicide prevention. Such changes may positively influence the future of research on indigenous youth suicide prevention as the outcomes and efficacy will be more reliable.
References
2009). Suicide Prevention as a community development process: Understanding circumpolar youth suicide prevention through community level outcomes. International Journal of Circumpolar Health, 68(3), 274–291.
(2008). The CIET Aboriginal Youth Resilience Studies: 14 years of capacity building and methods development in Canada. Pimatisiwin, 6(2), 65–88.
(2012). Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander suicide deaths. Retrieved from www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/[email protected]/Products/3309.0~2010~Chapter~Aboriginal+and+Torres+Strait+Islander+suicide+deaths?OpenDocument
. (2001). Indigenous settlements of Australia. Retrieved from www.environment.gov.au/soe/2001/publications/technical/indigenous/distribution.html
. (2013). The quality of health research for young indigenous Australians: A systematic review. Medical Journal of Australia, 199, 57–63.
(2004). Participatory action research. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 60(10), 854–857.
(2006). Indigenous suicide in New Zealand. Archives of Suicide Research, 10(2), 159–168.
(2007). Effective strategies for suicide prevention in New Zealand: A review of the evidence. The New Zealand Medical Journal, 120(1251), 1–13.
(2007). Dealing with suicidal thoughts in schools: Information and education directed at secondary schools. The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists, 15, 58–62.
(2008). The suicide prevention continuum. Pimatisiwn, 6(2), 145–153.
(2000). Framework for design and evaluation of complex interventions to improve health. British Medical Journal, 321(7262), 694–696.
(2001). Suicide prevention in Aboriginal communities: Application of community gatekeeper training. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health, 25(4), 315–321.
(1998). Suicide prevention evaluation in a Western Athabaskan American Indian tribe: New Mexico, 1988–1997. MMWR Morbid Mortal Weekly Report, 47, 257–261.
. (2012). Suicide: Facts at a glance. Retrieved from www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention
. (1992). Youth suicide prevention programs: A resource guide. Retrieved from wonder.cdc.gov/wonder/prevguid/p0000024/p0000024.asp
. (2005). Practical program evaluation: assessing and improving planning, implementation and effectiveness. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publication Inc.
(2013). A systematic review of suicide prevention interventions targeting indigenous peoples in Australia, United States, Canada and New Zealand. BMC Public Health, 13, 463
(1989). Improving the health of Indian teenagers – a demonstration program in rural New Mexico. Public Health Reports, 104(3), 271–278.
(2004). Traditional wisdom at the heart of healing. Retrieved from www.manaonline.co.nz/tangi-hepi.htm
(2012). A bibliometric analysis of research on indigenous health in Australia 1972–2008. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health, 36(3), 269–273.
(2000). Risk factors and life processes associated with the onset of suicidal behaviour during adolescence and early adulthood. Psychological Medicine, 30(1), 23–39.
(2010). Mamow Ki-ken-da-ma-win: A partnership approach to child, youth, family and community wellbeing. International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction, 8, 245–257.
(1994). Blue Bay Healing Center: Community development and healing as prevention. American Indian and Alaska Native Mental Health Research, 4, 135–165.
(2008). What is missing from descriptions of treatment in trials and reviews? British Medical Journal, 336(7659), 1472–1474.
(2007). Identifying effective mental health interventions for American Indians and Alaska Natives: A review of the literature. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 13(4), 356–363.
(2010). Adaptation and implementation of cognitive behavioral intervention for trauma in schools with American Indian youth. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 39(6), 858–872.
(2003). Youth suicide risk and preventive interventions: A review of the past 10 years. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 42(4), 386–405.
(2009). Indigenous health part 1: Determinants and disease patterns. Lancet, 374, 65–75.
(2005). Stigma of mental illness among American Indian and Alaska Native Nations: Historical and contemporary perspectives. Issues in Mental Health, 26, 1001–1024.
(2006). First Nations & Inuit health: Suicide prevention. Retrieved from www.hc-sc.gc.ca/fniah-spnia/promotion/suicide/index-eng.php
. (2011). Contextualizing indigenous suicide. Australia and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 45, 593–594.
(2002). Indigenous suicide in Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the United States. Emergency Medicine, 14, 14–23.
(2010). Community-based suicide prevention research in remote on-reserve First Nations communities. International Journal of Mental Health Addiction, 8, 258–270.
. (2008). The use of puppetry for health promotion and suicide prevention among Mi’Kmaq youth. Journal of Holistic Nursing, 26(1), 50–55.
(2008). Preventing suicide: A neglected social work research agenda. British Journal of Social Work, 38, 507–530.
(1988). An indigenous community mental health service on the Tohono O’odham (Papago) Indian reservation: Seventeen years later. American Journal of Community Psychology, 16(3), 369–379.
(2009). Canadian Inuit community engagement in suicide prevention. International Journal of Circumpolar Health, 68(3), 292–308.
(2012). Postcolonial suicide among Inuit in Arctic Canada. Culture, Medicine and Psychiatry, 36, 306–325.
(2012). Thematic analysis of key factors associated with Indigenous and non-indigenous suicide in the Northern Territory, Australia. Rural and Remote Health, 12(4), 1–16.
(2008) The Zuni Life Skills Development program: A school/community-based suicide prevention intervention. Suicide and Life Threatening Behavior, 38, 343–353.
(1995). The Zuni Life Skills Development curriculum: Description and evaluation of a suicide prevention program. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 42, 479–486.
(2012). Therapeutic outreach through Bboying (break dancing) in Canada’s Arctic and First Nations communities: Social work through hip-hop. In , Therapeutic uses of rap and hip-hop (pp. 129–152). New York, NY: Routledge/Taylor & Francis Group.
(2002). Process evaluation for public health interventions and research: An overview. In , Process evaluation for public health interventions and research (pp. 1–24). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
(2000). Evaluation methods for social intervention. Annual Review of Psychology, 51, 345–375.
(2005). Suicide prevention strategies: A systematic review. Journal of the American Medical Association, 16, 2064–2074.
(2007). Social action with youth: Interventions, evaluation, and psychopolitical validity. Journal of Community Psychology, 35(6), 725–740.
(2005). Outcome evaluation of a public health approach to suicide prevention in an American Indian tribal nation. American Journal of Public Health, 95(7), 1238–1244.
(1996). Culturally appropriate means and ends of counseling as described by the First Nations people of British Columbia. International Journal for the Advancement of Counselling 18, 163–172.
(2011). Type 2 diabetes in Indigenous populations: Quality of intervention research over 20 years. Preventive Medicine, 52, 3–9.
(2007). Study designs for effectiveness and translation research: Identifying trade-offs. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 33(2), 139–154.
(2009). A College suicide prevention model for American Indian students. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 40(2), 134–140.
(2012). Suicide facts: Deaths and intentional self-harm hospitalisations 2010. Wellington, New Zealand: Ministry of Health.
. (2008). Suicide and suicidal behavior. Epidemiologic Reviews, 30, 133–154.
(1998). Evaluating health promotion-progress, problems and solutions. Health Promotion International, 13(1), 27–44.
(2006). Process evaluation in randomised controlled trials of complex interventions. Health Services Research, 332(7538), 413–416.
. (2012). American Indian/Alaska Native profile. Retrieved from minorityhealth.hhs.gov/templates/browse.aspx?lvl=2&lvlID=52
. (2002). Research with children: The same or different from research with adults? Childhood, 9(3), 321–341.
(2010). School attendance and retention of Indigenous Australian students. Closing the Gap Clearinghouse, 1, 1–25.
(1999). Social work research and the quest for effective practice. Social Work Research, 23(1), 4–14.
(2006). In defense of the randomized controlled trial for health promotion research. American Journal of Public Health, 96(7), 1181–1186.
(2008). We are what we do: Research outputs of public health. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 35(4), 380–385.
(2006). Indigenous health research: A critical review of outputs over time. The Medical Journal of Australia, 184(10), 502–505.
(2005). Developing a process-evaluation plan for assessing health promotion program implementation: A how-to guide. Evaluation and Practice, 6(2),134–147.
(2010). Preventing suicide among indigenous Australians. In , Working together: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander mental health and wellbeing principles and practice (pp. 91–104). Canberra, ACT: Dept of Health and Ageing.
(2001). Aboriginal Suicide is different: A portrait of life and self-destruction. Canberra, Australia: Aboriginal Studies Press.
(2009). Toward Kuleana (responsibility): A case study of a contextually grounded intervention for native Hawaiian youth and young adults. Aggression and Violent Behaviour, 14(6), 488–498.
(2011). Essential components of public health evidence reviews: Capturing intervention complexity, implementation, economics and equity. Journal of Public Health, 33(3), 462–465.
(2005). Promoting and protecting youth mental health through evidence-based prevention and treatment. American Psychologist, 60(6), 628–648.
(2012). Culturally responsive suicide prevention in indigenous communities: Unexamined assumptions and new possibilities. American Journal of Public Health, 102(5), 800–806.
(2007). Indigenous Australians’ understandings regarding mental health and disorders. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 41(467), 467–478.
(