Suicide Prevention for American Indian and Alaska Native Youth: Lessons Learned and Implications for Underserved Communities

Abstract

Suicide is a serious and universal public health challenge, yet significant disparities have been observed in suicide and attempt rates across a variety of cultural, racial, and ethnic subgroups. A better understanding of differences among cultural, racial, and ethnic subgroups with regard to suicide and suicidal behavior has the potential to inform suicide prevention efforts, not only within these specific subgroups but in general populations as well. This chapter will focus on the American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) population as illustrative of several best practices and lessons learned with implications for other underserved communities, as well as calls to action for the field more broadly.