Setting up suicide prevention plans at the local level: the methodology of focus groups with stakeholders

Abstract

In the prevention of suicide, there is a need to transform clinical studies into health promotion by a cooperation with territorial agencies. A survey on a group of stakeholders was performed with the methodology of focus group. The evaluation criteria used by the participants were practical and not methodological and were closely linked to the stakeholders' point of view. High importance was given to building a network in the territory and some indications came out for each target group (e.g., interventions in schools for adolescents). In conclusion, a qualitative survey on the stakeholders' opinion is useful, but it needs a steering that integrates the different points of view and joins them with methodological requirements and funds availability. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Depression prevention and mental health promotion interventions: is stigma taken into account? An overview of the Italian initiatives

“…Two studies included service users in their programmes: the multilevel programme delivered in Rovigo conducted a focus group with a stakeholder representative group (young people, older people and individuals after a suicide attempt) for planning the programme in the following executive phase (Poma et al 2011): two focus groups with patients who attempted suicide (Ghio et al 2011) in order to understand the main reasons leading to these attempts. Preliminary outcomes about the impact of an awareness campaign were only reported by Giupponi et al (2008) in the framework of the European Alliance Against Depression (EAAD) prevention project.…”