Deploying an Ecological Model to Stem the Rising Tide of Firearm Suicide in Older Age

A central objective of the Surgeon General's National Strategy for Suicide Prevention is to focus on older adults. We review individual risk-factors for suicide in late life and then introduce an ecological model to expand conceptualization of elder suicide. We first look at the role of firearms, providing evidence that firearm availability increases the means of elder suicide and gun access policies can contribute to reducing risk. Next, we focus on primary care providers, documenting how older adults often come into contact with these professionals before ending their lives and how these providers could take a more active role in mediating individual-level risk factors. We then turn our attention to the intersection between gun access and primary care and consider how advancing standards of care concerning gun access and suicide risk might be an effective policy alternative for blocking the pathway to suicide among older adults.