Levine Joshua, Sher Leo
Veterans' Administration New York Harbor Healthcare System, Brooklyn, NY 11209, USA.
School of Social Work, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027, USA.
Behav Sci (Basel). 2025 Mar 17;15(3):379. doi: 10.3390/bs15030379.
Suicidal behavior among older military veterans is an important medical and social problem. The goal of this literature review is to discuss this underappreciated issue and identify suicide preventive interventions that can be utilized with the older military veteran population. Older veterans experience psychiatric, medical, and social problems associated with their age and/or military experience that can contribute to suicide risk. These problems include relationship losses through death or estrangement, depression, cognitive decline, loneliness, isolation, frailty, mobility issues, and chronic pain. Therefore, older veterans face a unique set of challenges. Suicide prevention in older veterans should take a multipronged approach which includes screening for suicidality, management of psychiatric and medical disorders, social assistance, safety planning, lethal means restriction, and involving family members in the veteran's healthcare. Family members should be included in the safety planning process when possible. Gatekeeper training programs can be utilized to train individuals who are working with older veterans to reduce suicides amongst this age group.
老年退伍军人的自杀行为是一个重要的医学和社会问题。这篇文献综述的目的是讨论这个未得到充分重视的问题，并确定可用于老年退伍军人人群的自杀预防干预措施。老年退伍军人会经历与他们的年龄和/或军事经历相关的精神、医学和社会问题，这些问题可能导致自杀风险。这些问题包括因死亡或疏远导致的人际关系丧失、抑郁、认知衰退、孤独、孤立、身体虚弱、行动不便和慢性疼痛。因此，老年退伍军人面临着一系列独特的挑战。老年退伍军人的自杀预防应采取多管齐下的方法，包括筛查自杀倾向、管理精神和医学疾病、社会援助、安全规划、限制致命手段，以及让家庭成员参与退伍军人的医疗保健。如有可能，家庭成员应纳入安全规划过程。守门人培训项目可用于培训与老年退伍军人打交道的人员，以减少该年龄组的自杀行为。
