Suicide Prevention Program for Adolescents and Young Adults Aged 12-26 Years: An Initiative to Address Unmet Needs and Save Lives

Abstract

Suicide is a major public health crisis, particularly among young people. To address this complex and multi-faceted issue, we built a predictive model to identify members who are at high risk for first or repeat-attempt suicide over the next 12 months and referred those members to a comprehensive case-management program for early intervention. Using multivariate regression, we identified the major risk factors for a suicidal event in our study sample. Of the identified members, we targeted approximately 10,000 members aged 12-26 years of age in the high-risk category from our commercial fully insured population. The members who agreed to participate in this comprehensive case-management program worked closely with the case managers and wellness recovery specialists. The pre and post rates of suicidal events were measured for the intervention group and compared a matched control group. The rate of suicidal events had a net decrease of 16.71% in the no prior attempt group while those in the prior attempt group had a net decrease of 27.76%. High-risk members (those with 10% or greater risk of suicidal event) identified via the predictive modeling algorithm who engage in the case-management program were shown to have a significant reduction in their risk for having a suicidal event.