Citation

Perspect. Public Health 2016; 136(5): 269-270.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2016, Royal Society for Public Health, Publisher SAGE Publishing)

DOI

10.1177/1757913916658622

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

South Korea has an exceptionally high suicide rate which is in part driven by a rapid increase in suicide in the elderly. In this article, Hye-Jin Sun of Kyungsung University, Busan, South Korea describes how local government interventions have decreased the suicide rate.

South Korea has the highest suicide rate among member countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD); this suicide rate is six times higher than the OECD average. In particular, rapid increases in the suicide rate among the elderly have been analysed as a major contributor to the country's overall high suicide rate. As the suicides of many elderly people are thoughtfully planned, preventing their suicides is known to be much easier than preventing the suicides of younger people, which are often more impulsive.

Recent efforts have shown that local governments are key to intervention and prevention. Leading cases in which the suicide of elderly people was reduced through the active suicide prevention projects of local governments include examples from Jinan County, the Nowon-gu and Seongbuk-gu districts of Seoul, and Cheongju.

Jinan …

Language: en