Defense Health Care: DOD Needs to Fully Assess its Non-Clinical Suicide Prevention Efforts and Address Any Impediments to Effectiveness

Abstract

Suicide is a public health problem facing all populations, including the military. From 2014 to 2019, the rate of suicide increased from 20.4 to 25.9 per 100,000 active component servicemembers. Over the past decade, DOD has taken steps to address the growing rate of suicide in the military through efforts aimed at prevention. The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020 included a provision for GAO to review DOD's suicide prevention programs. This report examines DOD's suicide prevention efforts, including, among other objectives, (1) the extent to which non-clinical efforts are assessed for being evidence based and effective and (2) any impediments that hamper the effectiveness of these efforts.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Apr 01, 2021
Accession Number
AD1157512

Entities

People

  • Aaron Holling
  • Aaron Safer-lichtenstein
  • Bonnie Anderson
  • Caitlin Scoville
  • Debra A. Draper
  • Ethiene Salgado-rodriguez
  • Jacquelyn Hamilton
  • Luke Baron

Organizations

  • United States Government Accountability Office

Tags

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Active Duty
  • Air Force
  • Congress
  • Department Of Defense
  • Department Of Veterans Affairs
  • Families (Human)
  • Health Care
  • Health Services
  • Mental Health
  • Military Families
  • Military Medicine
  • National Security
  • Organizational Structure
  • Public Health
  • Social Media
  • Training
  • United States Government

Fields of Study

  • Medicine
  • Psychology

Readers

  • Defense Acquisition Program Management
  • Mental Health of Military Veterans with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD): Risk Factors, Prevalence, Symptoms, and Treatment.