Development of a leader tool for assessing and mitigating suicide risk factors

Suicide deaths remain a public health problem in the US military, with annual rates from 2011–2016 ranging from 18.7 to 22.7 suicides per 100,000.1 Notwithstanding suicide prevention efforts, the overall rates have not changed significantly.1 Furthermore, at-risk service members have shown underutilization of available services.2,3 As part of increasing service utilization, it has been recommended that reducing suicide risk in the military must involve leaders.4