Prevention Manager Presents Paper on Suicide in the Elderly
Jane Hudson, Prevention Program Manager at Capital City Community Centers, will be presenting a paper on Suicide Prevention in the Elderly at the 60th Annual Scientific Meeting of the Gerontological Society of America in San Francisco this November. The paper, co-authored by Jane and Beatriz Perez of the Health Department, is one of 4 papers being delivered as a statewide model for prevention of injuries to older adults.
Nationally, older adults have a high suicide rate, with the rate for white men aged 85+ more than five times the overall U.S. rate of 10.9 per 100,000. Rhode Island presents a different picture, with rates highest among those ages 35-44. For those aged 75+ in RI, the suicide rate was 8.2 per 100,000. For older Rhode Islanders, rates are highest among the 60-64 age group rather than the 85+ age group. The statewide Suicide Prevention Subcommittee has examined the data and demographics and studied risk and protective factors for suicide prevention. Conclusions were that the high percentages of Catholics and ethnic groups with extended families contributed to lower suicide rates. Efforts at multiple system levels to decrease this rate further and to reduce risk and promote protective factors are underway. The outcomes of these efforts will be useful to others working to decrease suicide rates among elders.
Jane is Chair of the statewide Suicide Prevention Sub-Committee established through the auspices of the RI Injury Community Planning Group (ICPG) which is a partnership of the RI Department of Health and the Injury Prevention Center at RI Hospital, and is supported with funds from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The ICPA is a group of professionals representing a broad range of agencies and organizations concerned with building Rhode Island’s capacity to address injury prevention, particularly related to falls, motor vehicle crashes and suicide. The ICPG Steering Committee meets monthly to provide guidance and direction to state injury prevention efforts.
