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Abstract
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Key points
• Digital technologies have immense potential to advance our understanding of and robust response to suicide risk.
• Key limitations in these approaches have stalled their widespread implementation.
• While digital approaches as standalone interventions are likely insufficient, and clinicians should be critical curators of available apps, there is strong promise in using technology to augment ongoing clinical care.
• Large, randomized trials, the involvement of those with lived experience, and attention to ethical and legal considerations should assist in advancing digital health care.
Suicide is the 10th-leading cause of death and #1 cause of injury-related death for adults in the United States, accounting for 45,000 deaths per year [1]. Among adolescents, suicide is the second-leading cause of mortality, accounting for more than 1 in 10 deaths [1]. Unfortunately, suicide rates have not improved over time despite numerous initiatives [[2], [3], [4], [5]]. In fact, data indicate that national suicide rates have increased by nearly 25% over the last 15 years [6,7], making it the only top-10 cause of death with an increasing rate during that period. National concern prompted the National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention and the Surgeon General to publish the National Strategy for Suicide Prevention [8], which focuses on suicide prevention as a core aspect of health care services.
Digital technologies have flourished in the mental health space over the past decade, offering strong potential to improve access to care through tailored, personalized interventions. Given the burgeoning landscape of technology-based approaches to suicide prevention and current limitations of the field, practitioners need a strong resource that details the current state of available approaches to risk assessment and intervention tools. The proliferation of mental health-related technologies available to patients and providers without a strong evidence base has the potential to result in harmful experiences for users [9]. As such, this comprehensive review provides an overview of technology-based approaches to suicide prevention with a focus on the quality of the evidence supporting adoption that will serve as a guide for clinicians and researchers working with individuals who endorse suicidal ideation.
Language: en |