a Division of Internal Medicine , Department of Internal Medicine , Chang Gung Memorial Hospital at Linkou, Taoyuan , Taiwan.
Aging Ment Health. 2014 Jul;18(5):593-9. doi: 10.1080/13607863.2013.860424. Epub 2013 Dec 12.
The purposes of this study were to explore elderly outpatients' perceived reasons for, opinions of, and suggestions for elderly people considering suicide in Taiwan.
Elderly outpatients (N = 83) were recruited in 2011-2012 by convenience sampling from three randomly selected medical centers in Taiwan. Data were collected in individual interviews using a semi-structured guide and analyzed by content analysis.
Findings revealed that most participants had heard of elderly suicide, with television news as the main source for their information. Their opinions about elderly suicide reflected judgmental attitudes, negative emotional reactions, expectations of social welfare, and could happen after losing one's meaning in life. Their suggestions for elderly people considering suicide fell into four major themes: give up suicidal ideas, seek help, enhance social welfare, and attend religious activities.
Since television news was the main source for participants' information about elderly suicide, this mass medium should be used in suicide prevention to disseminate suicide knowledge, increase access to help, and strengthen suicide-protective factors among the elderly. Furthermore, no participants mentioned depression as a reason for attempted or completed suicide among older people despite depression being a well-known suicide-risk factor. Future suicide-prevention programs should emphasize the role of depression in suicide among older people. Participants also did not suggest that older people considering suicide seek help from the health system. Thus, older people should be educated about the role of the health system in suicide prevention and trained as gatekeepers to recognize signs of suicide ideation and respond appropriately.
本研究旨在探讨台湾老年门诊患者对老年人自杀的看法、意见和建议。
2011 年至 2012 年，采用便利抽样法从台湾的三家随机选择的医疗中心招募了 83 名老年门诊患者。使用半结构式指南进行个人访谈收集数据，并采用内容分析法进行分析。
研究结果显示，大多数参与者听说过老年人自杀，他们获取信息的主要来源是电视新闻。他们对老年人自杀的看法反映出评判性态度、负面情绪反应、对社会福利的期望，并且可能发生在失去生活意义之后。他们对考虑自杀的老年人的建议可归纳为四个主要主题：放弃自杀念头、寻求帮助、增强社会福利和参加宗教活动。
由于电视新闻是参与者获取老年人自杀信息的主要来源，因此应利用这一大众媒体传播自杀知识，增加获取帮助的途径，并增强老年人的自杀保护因素。此外，尽管抑郁症是众所周知的自杀风险因素，但没有参与者提到抑郁症是老年人自杀的原因。未来的自杀预防计划应强调抑郁症在老年人自杀中的作用。参与者也没有建议考虑自杀的老年人向卫生系统寻求帮助。因此，应该对老年人进行健康教育，了解卫生系统在自杀预防中的作用，并培训他们作为识别自杀意念迹象的守门员，以做出适当反应。
