[Investigating postvention best practices : The Delphi method]

Area of Science:

• Psychiatry and Mental Health
• Public Health
• Grief and Bereavement Studies

Background:

• Postvention services aim to support vulnerable populations after suicide.
• Existing postvention programs often lack strong empirical evidence.
• An Australian study used the Delphi method to identify expert-recommended postvention actions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To establish a French inventory of postvention actions.
• To achieve expert consensus on actions for French postvention programs.
• To compare findings with an Australian study.

Main Methods:

• Systematic review of scientific and gray literature to identify postvention actions.
• Delphi method employed for expert assessment of action relevance.
• PRISMA and WEB documentation utilized for literature search.

Main Results:

• An inventory of 190 postvention actions was compiled and categorized.
• Actions were classified by event timing (pre, during, post) and focus (environment- or people-centered).
• Experts identified 128 essential actions for postvention programs.

Conclusions:

• Expert consensus was achieved on recommended post-suicide practices.
• Similarities were found between French and Australian postvention action types.
• This study updates health professionals on relevant postvention practices.