A Suicide Assessment of Elderly Military Veterans: Best Practice Guidelines in Long-Term Care

Suicide in the United States continues to be a pervasive problem with military veterans. Sadly, effects of previous military service continue to plague many elderly military veterans decades after the war. Many years after the war, some aging elderly veterans, age 65 years of age or older, find themselves fighting a new battle. Suicide is a major cause of mortality worldwide, and research indicates that the rate of suicide is increasing among the military population. Suicidal ideation is more dangerous in war veterans in comparison to the general population because they know how to use firearms and they often own them. Little research has examined the sensitive phenomena of elderly military veterans and the risk of suicide many years after the war. This document serves as a guideline for assessing suicide in elderly military veterans in long-term care, taking in account the available evidence.