Research Trend on the Effectiveness of Suicide Prevention Programs for Older Adults in Suicide Risk: Focused on Quality Indicators

Objectives The purpose of this study is to examine the trends in the study of the effectiveness of suicide prevention programs for older adults in suicide risk and to present research directions for the development of suicide prevention programs in the future. Methods To this end, keywords such as ‘suicide’, ‘older adults’, ‘program’, ‘intervention’, ‘effect’, ‘effectiveness’ were searched in the National Assembly Library, KISS, Dbpia, and Riss and 10 studies of ‘suicide prevention programs for older adults in suicide risk’ published from 2000 to 2021 were analyzed based on the qualitative indicators of the research design proposed by Gersten et al. (2005) and the components of the suicide prevention program for suicide risk groups proposed by Park et al. (2022). Results First, the number of published articles increased in 2019, but none have been published since the breakout of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Second, the method of screening suicide risk groups often used depression tests and suicidal ideation scales, and programs using media access accounted for half of the independent variables. Third, the majority of dependent variables were suicide ideation scales and depression tests. Fourth, as a result of analyzing whether or not Gersten et al. (2005) meets the quality indicators, most of the studies met the quality indicators, but the quality indicators were relatively low in the following areas: securing program content validity, operator information, measuring maintenance effect after program termination, and presentation of the qualitative analysis of program effectiveness. Finally, as a result of examining the components of suicide prevention programs, it was found that the following areas were insufficient: establishing safety plans, learning coping skills, forming therapeutic relationships, and forming a protection system. Conclusions Based on the results of the study, implications for the suicide prevention programs for older adults in suicide risk were discussed.