The problem of suicide has always been on the agenda of healthcare services. While rural areas might seem like safer places in terms of suicidal ideations among their residents, reports indicate that suicide rates are often even higher in rural places, mostly due to the increased access to firearms (Rural Health Information Hub, n.d.). Therefore, preventing suicide among rural residents should be considered an important goal of healthcare services (Hash, Jurkowski, & Krout, 2015). By creating a social work program aimed at educating rural residents about the problem of suicide, offering helpful resources, and providing them with appropriate services, healthcare authorities will be able to reduce the instances of suicide in the rural setting.
Shaping the social work system in a way that will encourage the education of rural residents will contribute to the management of the issue of suicide in the specified setting. Exposure to firearms and other objects that can be used as suicide weapons, coupled with the lack of access to counseling and other healthcare services, makes the target demographic very vulnerable to the threat of suicidal ideation (“Rural social work teaching module,” n.d.). Therefore, services that provide guidance and counseling will have to be established, and the tools for helping rural residents to get educated about the issue of suicide, its symptoms, and the methods of receiving help, will need to be created (“Suicide prevention toolkit for rural primary care,” n.d.). Patient safety plans aimed at maintaining communication with the target population and toolkits for supporting patients experiencing suicidal ideations will need to be provided (Suicide Prevention Resource Center, n.d.). Thus, the problem of high suicide rates in rural areas will be addressed.
References
Hash, K. M., Jurkowski, E. T., & Krout, J. A. (2015). Aging in rural places. New York, NY: Springer Publishing Company, LLC.
Rural Health Information Hub. (n.d.). Mental health in rural communities toolkit. Web.
Rural social work teaching module. (n.d.). Web.
Suicide Prevention Resource Center. (n.d.). Template/Worksheet. Web.
Suicide prevention toolkit for rural primary care. (n.d.). Web.