A theater intervention to promote communication and disclosure of suicidal ideation

ABSTRACT

Young adults from Montana have a higher rate of suicide than their national counterparts. There is a clear need for targeted interventions to address this disparity. The authors evaluate a community-based, narrative theater project designed to increase awareness and use of suicide-prevention resources among eastern Montana youth. As a first step, seven group interviews with Montana young adults (n = 27) were conducted to identify current perceptions about suicide and suicide prevention. Interviews were conducted before and after subjects were exposed to a community-based theater production about suicide. Emergent thematic categories were organized using the four main constructs of the extended parallel process model. After the performance, participants expressed increased awareness of prevention resources; perceived susceptibility to the threat of suicide and depression; and self-efficacy for accessing help and assisting others. There were mixed results for perceived response efficacy. Implications and recommendations for intervention development are discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• Community-based research
• performance
• intervention
• narrative medicine
• suicide prevention
• self-efficacy
• health communication

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

ORCID

C. Graham Austin http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0733-7306

Notes

1. National Institutes of Health under Award Number P20GM103474.

2. The QPR Institute has been listed as an evidence-based practice in the National Register of Evidence-based Practices and Policies (NREPP). http://www.qprinstitute.com/pdfs/NREPPRelease.pdf

3. All names have been changed.

Additional information

Funding

Research reported in this publication was supported by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences of the National Institutes of Health under award number [P20GM103474]. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.