This essay will examine interventions to improve the prevention and awareness of Native American youth suicide. Interventions include the work from Le and Gobert exploring the ideations mindfulness-based suicide prevention, and work from Robinson, Hetrick, Cox, Bendall, Yuen, Yung & Pirkis exploring the idea that suicide rates can be reduced from internet based interventions. Both interventions that were explored showed promising results, and allow plenty of room for further growth regarding each intervention. Promoting resilience and reducing factors that increase risk is the goal of suicide prevention. Both of these interventions have been the most successful programs thus far in the fight to reduce suicide rates in the Native …show more content…
The study by Thao Le and Judith Gobert explore whether a mindfulness-based prevention can be translated and implemented in a Native American youth population. “Recent research estimates that Native American youth and young adult ages 15-24 have the highest suicide rate of any cultural or ethnic group in the United States, in fact, 2.5 times higher than the national average” (Le & Gobert, 2013, p. 1). According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC, 2014), suicide ranks the second leading cause of death for 10-34 years olds in the United States, so targeting a population between these ages would be the most helpful. The mindfulness-based strategy for reducing the risk of suicide will provide Native American youth with the tools to identify and manage self-destructive thoughts along with the guidance to deal with difficult thoughts and emotions. This strategy involves the ability to introduce sensory phenomena, thoughts, or experiences, on an instant-instant basis without reacting to the stimulation. As we talked about implications of public health and the meaning of population health, “mental health is now being recognized and an important part of the definition” (Riegelman & Kirkwood, 2015, p. 9). “Mindfulness has been shown to be effective in more than 125 clinical randomized trials with adults, for conditions ranging from physical ailments to mental …show more content…
In phase one, the intervention author met with key Native American leaders to discuss the importance of mindfulness, and how may or may not reverberate with the tribal community’s’ traditional culture. Phase two includes receiving the approval of the Elders and collaborating with a tribal champion who understands the issues of the communities regarding the suicide risk factors. Delivery was to occur at school as an elective class, and homework was assigned for each of the modules. “In total there were nine modules in the culturally adapted version including mindful breathing, mindful listening, mindfulness of nature, mindfulness of body, mindfulness of thoughts, mindfulness of emotions, cultivating compassion and empathy, judgment and forgiveness, and aligning with vision (Le & Gobert, 2013, p 4). Phase three basically included identifying the appropriate measures for evaluation and collaborating with the community to develop the research