2022 Fiscal Year Research-status Report
Availability, Effectiveness, and Sufficiency of Suicide Prevention Services: A Global Effort during the COVID-19 Pandemic
| Project/Area Number |
22K11087
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| Research Institution | Nagasaki University |
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Principal Investigator |
グエン フイティエン 長崎大学, 熱帯医学・グローバルヘルス研究科, 准教授 (20457526)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2022-04-01 – 2025-03-31
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| Keywords | Suicide / Global Effort / COVID-19 / Survey / Services / Mental / Stress / Hotline |
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| Outline of Annual Research Achievements |
The alarming rise in suicide rates is a growing concern in society today, attributed to the lifestyle choices of individuals. Emotional instability and psychiatric disorders are the major contributing factors leading to such drastic decisions. Despite the efforts to address this issue, limited access to healthcare services remains a significant challenge. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has worsened the situation, resulting in widespread anxiety, depression, and suicidal ideation. To prevent a surge in suicide rates, it is crucial to strengthen suicide prevention services. Hence, our study aims to assess the availability, effectiveness, and patient experience of suicide prevention healthcare services.
We successfully developed a questionnaire and conducted a cross-sectional, observational survey to search for areas of challenges or possible improvement of healthcare services to prevent suicide. We received 514 responses from the estimated total of 1094 suicide helplines in the world. The collected data will be analyzed to describe the study population; means and SDs will be used for continuous variables and frequencies and percentages described categorical variables. Multivariable regression analysis will be performed to identify the associated factors with the outcome.
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| Current Status of Research Progress |
Current Status of Research Progress
1: Research has progressed more than it was originally planned.
Reason
The increasing prevalence of suicides has become a major global health problem, healthcare service workers are willing to respond the survey. The research team is working together more effectively than expected. Everyone is completing their tasks on time and communicating well with each other. This can help to avoid delays and keep the project moving forward smoothly. The research team has encountered fewer unexpected obstacles or challenges than anticipated. For example, the recruitment of participants may have been easier than expected, or the data collection process may have gone more smoothly than planned.
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| Strategy for Future Research Activity |
We will continue our planned procedure by analyzing the survey data and identifying obstacles in preventing suicide. This will involve cleaning and organizing the data, performing statistical analyses, and interpreting the results.
Once we have completed the analysis of the survey data, we will move on to the qualitative study. This will involve conducting interviews and focus groups with key stakeholders involved in suicide prevention, including healthcare providers, community leaders, and individuals who have attempted suicide or been affected by suicide in some way. We will use a grounded theory approach to analyze the data. It involves identifying themes and categories that emerge from the data and using them to develop a theoretical understanding of the phenomenon under investigation.
During the qualitative study, we will focus on identifying obstacles and barriers to effective suicide prevention. This will involve exploring issues such as stigma, lack of awareness and education, inadequate resources, and cultural factors that may impact individuals' willingness to seek help. We will also explore potential solutions to these obstacles, including increasing awareness and education, improving access to resources, and reducing stigma.
In conclusion, our research project aims to analyze survey data and perform a qualitative study to identify obstacles in the prevention of suicide. By doing so, we hope to contribute to developing effective suicide prevention strategies and reduce the prevalence of suicide in our community.
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| Causes of Carryover |
Unfortunately, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, I was unable to attend an important international meeting to promote our research last year. As a result, I am currently planning to use the budget that was allocated for the meeting to attend a similar conference later this year. This conference would be highly beneficial for our research network and could greatly contribute to our efforts in improving suicide prevention.
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