A Boise-based hospital system is spearheading the largest and most comprehensive study ever done in Idaho on the state’s growing suicide rate.
St. Luke’s has been awarded $3.4 million to partner with the University of Idaho and others to study suicide factors and statistics in the Gem State. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Idaho ranks sixth-highest in the country with a rate of 23.2 suicides for every 100,000 people – about 50 percent above the national average. Suicide is the second-leading cause of death for Idahoans ages 15-to-34, and for men up to age 44.
St. Luke’s officials say the three-year Congressionally-funded study will be the first of its kind, as none of the large scale studies have happened in rural areas like Idaho, and there have been no big studies in the intermountain states which bear a disproportionate burden of suicide. States with the highest rates of those taking their own lives are Montana, Alaska, Wyoming, New Mexico, Utah, and Idaho.
Under the study, scheduled to begin next summer, random patients in two emergency departments and 21 primary care facilities within the St. Luke’s system who screen positive for suicide will be asked to participate. Those who agree would work with researchers to understand the causes of suicidal thoughts, as well as ways to increase support mechanisms and reduce access to means of harming oneself.
Much of the $3.4 million will be used to train providers in clinical intervention and to add staff to handle the research. The money will also provide for the addition of two much needed, full-time positions to Idaho’s suicide prevention hotline, which is 208-398-HELP, or 208-398-4357. (Idahonews.com)
