Suicide Prevention Programs: Issues of Design, Implementation, Feasibility, and Developmental Appropriateness

The essential components of successful prevention programs are discussed: comprehensiveness, fidelity, & intensity. The authors describe how to mount prevention programs to increase feasibility, access, & effectiveness. Because suicide is an epidemic of low frequency in the general population, it does not receive appropriate attention in public health campaigns. It is argued that suicide prevention should be nested within existing public health preventive intervention programs. (25 refs.)