The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA

Abstract #68284

Therese S. Richmond, PhD¹, Rose A. Cheney, PhD², Melissa H Seide, MSW, LSW², Maura Dunfey², Scott M. Grim, D-ABMDI³, Zachary R. Lysek⁴, and Michael D. Grossman, MD⁵. (1) School of Nursing, University of Pennsylvania, Nursing Education Building, 412, Philadelphia, PA 19104-6096, 215 573 7646, terryr@nursing.upenn.edu, (2) Firearm Injury Center at Penn, University of Pennsylvania, 3440 Market Street, First Floor, Philadelphia, PA 19104-3335, (3) Office of the Coroner County of Lehigh, Lehigh County Coroner, 501 West Hamilton Street, Allentown, PA 18101-2400, (4) Office of the Coroner Northampton County, Northampton County Coroner, Northampton County Government Center, 669 Washington Street, Easton, PA 18042-7469, (5) Trauma Division/MPAP Program, St. Luke's Regional Resource Level I Trauma Center, 801 Ostrum Street, Bethlehem, PA 18015

Suicide is the eleventh leading cause of death in America, but barriers exist for recognizing and addressing suicide as a modifiable public health risk. Community capacity for collective action is enhanced when these barriers are identified and addressed through comprehensive local data that speaks specifically to suicide.

Through the collection of local violent death data, trauma center-community partnerships can serve as an important resource for formulating targeted interventions to reduce suicide risk. The Firearm Injury Center at Penn (FICAP) has established trauma center-community partnerships, through the Medical Professionals as Advocates Program (MPAP), which has existed for five years in the Lehigh Valley of Pennsylvania. This community used community-specific data profiles to develop strategies to address interpersonal firearm violence, but while firearm suicide rates were higher, they received relatively little attention by the partnership. We sought to address this, examining how data could better support public decision making for community plans for suicide prevention.

Working collaboratively with this community site, we have identified the need to: 1) better identify and understand the barriers that interfere with a community’s evaluation and decision to respond to information on suicide risks in their community; and 2) distinguish the important elements of information for supporting collective understanding of modifiable risks and intervention points. Using a narrative analysis to identify six major themes of suicide risk and their related sub-themes, a “taxonomy of risk” model was developed. We then used these data to guide community decision-making in strategic planning to reduce firearm suicide through targeted interventions.

Learning Objectives:

At the conclusion of this session the participant will be able to:
• Discuss the benefits of providing communities with enhanced data profiles of firearm suicide deaths
• List major themes that could occur within a taxonomy of suicide deaths
• Describe a possible intervention points for suicide prevention that could be implemented through a Trauma Center-Community Partnership model

Keywords: Data/Surveillance, Suicide

Related Web page: www.uphs.upenn.edu/ficap

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.