“It Takes a Community” Report on the Summit on Opportunities for Mental Health Promotion and Suicide Prevention in Senior Living Communities

In October 2008, a meeting was held in Gaithersburg, Maryland regarding opportunities for mental health promotion & suicide prevention in senior living communities. This report provides the proceedings from the meeting. The discussions included topics such as the human cost of untreated mental illness, hearing the voices of residents, suicide in older adults, whole-population approaches to suicide prevention, at-risk approaches in suicide prevention, response to crisis & suicidal behaviour, perspectives on aging & mental health, & changing aging. Summaries are provided from the discussion groups’ exploration of approaches to suicide prevention & proposed stakeholder group actions.