Abstract
Background: Elevated suicide rates have alarmed policy makers and communities. In these circumstances, the value of understanding more about communities and their potential role in suicide intervention is becoming more apparent. This study involved evaluating feedback from individuals with and without previous suicidal thinking who participated in an arts-science rural community-based intervention project around suicide in County Donegal, Ireland ( Lived Lives at Fort Dunree). Methods: A combined quantitative and qualitative questionnaire was used to evaluate individual and community responses to the Lived Lives project. Results: Participants ( n = 83), with and without a mental health history and previous suicidal ideation, reported they believed Lived Lives could have potential to help suicide-bereaved families, people with mental illness and people with suicidal thinking. Qualitative results suggested its' suitability for specific groups affected by suicide. Discussion: The evaluation of the Lived Lives project indicated that supervised, "safe-space" community intervention projects around suicide have inherent value with positive impacts for bereaved individuals and communities, including those who have experienced suicidal feelings. Future research should explore the transferability of these findings to other communities, and at-risk groups.
Highlights
Elevated suicide rates have alarmed policy makers and communities
Five and six which asked participants about their own personal mental health history and whether they had been bereaved by suicide, answers were more evenly distributed between “yes” and “no” with a very small proportion of “I don’t know” answers
To the best of our knowledge, no previous study has evaluated the potential of an arts-science community model for suicide intervention, incorporating suicide-bereaved families and within a rural community where some had experienced previous suicidal thoughts
Summary
Elevated suicide rates have alarmed policy makers and communities. In these circumstances, the value of understanding more about communities and their potential role in suicide intervention is becoming more apparent. This study involved evaluating feedback from individuals with and without previous suicidal thinking who participated in an arts-science rural communitybased intervention project around suicide in County Donegal, Ireland ( Lived Lives at Fort Dunree). Results: Participants (n = 83), with and without a mental health history and previous suicidal ideation, reported they believed Lived Lives could have potential to help suicide-bereaved families, people with mental illness and people with suicidal thinking. Discussion: The evaluation of the Lived Lives project indicated that supervised, “safe-space” community intervention projects around suicide have inherent value with positive impacts for bereaved individuals and communities, including those who have experienced suicidal feelings. Future research should explore the transferability of these findings to other communities, and at-risk groups
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