Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The nugget. (Sisters, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 2, 2017)
Wednesday, August 2, 2017 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon 11 Among gun owners, culturally tailored suicide prevention is best By Steve Lundeberg Correspondent BEND – Gun owners are much more receptive to sui- cide-prevention messages tai- lored to respect their rights as firearms enthusiasts than they are to messages that use lan- guage that aims to be cultur- ally neutral, a study published last week suggests. The research at Oregon State University-Cascades is significant because more than half of the roughly 40,000 people in the United States who take their own lives every year do so with a gun. Past research shows that the vast majority of people with “suicidal ideation” – thoughts of killing themselves – will live meaningful, pro- ductive lives if they get past the rough patch that caused them to think about suicide. But only five percent of people who attempt suicide via firearm survive; hence the need for messaging that’s effective in helping friends and family members hold onto guns while their loved ones are experiencing suicidal ideation. The researchers conducted interviews in 2015 with 39 adult gun owners from rural communities in Central Oregon. The goal was to understand the culture of gun ownership and learn about acceptable, non-threatening methods of improving firearm safety that respect the rights of gun owners while also helping suicidal patients stay safe. The interviews led to a one-page suicide prevention message that encouraged restricting firearm access and also respected the cultural val- ues and rights of gun owners; the opening, for example, read “People who love guns, love you. For many of us, firearms are an American way of life – a constitutional right and a necessity in order to protect ourselves and our families. And with this right to bear arms comes responsibility. Just as we must refuse to be a victim of violent crime, we must also use common sense.” The culturally tailored message was then used as part of a nationwide survey of more than 800 gun owners to determine the likelihood of it causing owners of firearms to engage in multiple key gun safety behaviors for suicide prevention – such as asking a suicidal person to give away his or her guns temporarily to another trusted individual. Survey participants were randomly assigned to receive one of four messages: a con- trol message that read only, “Mental health and suicide prevention are important pub- lic health issues”; a standard, one-page message explaining that suicide is preventable, what the warning signs are, and how to take action; the culture-specific message that resulted from the interviews with gun owners; and a mes- sage that combined the tai- lored message with the stan- dard message. “Respondents who received our culturally spe- cific message in conjunc- tion with standard suicide prevention content reported the greatest likelihood of tak- ing steps to restrict access to firearms for those deemed at risk of suicide,” said OSU-Cascades anthropolo- gist Elizabeth Marino. “This tendency was enhanced for individuals who were more politically conservative, lived in more rural areas, and sup- ported gun rights to a stronger degree. “The findings underscore the importance of cultural fac- tors in public health messag- ing,” she said. “Messaging that respects the values of gun owners could hold promise in promoting firearm safety for suicide prevention. It’s important to understand what matters most to people and not use language that inad- vertently promotes values or judgments that are not mean- ingful to the group you’re try- ing to reach.” In this case, inadvertent promotion could come via words or sentences that sug- gested an anti-firearm bias. The study found the stan- dard one-page public health message was no more effec- tive in moving people’s atti- tudes than the one-sentence control message, which was effectively no message. “Information by itself isn’t changing minds at all,” Marino said. “But if the language in the message is sensitive and respects cul- turally specific values, then people are more open to the information and will maybe change their decisions. In such politically and culturally divisive times, it’s especially worth noting that there are in fact joint goals that people with diverse perspectives can talk about and reach consen- sus on as long as we under- stand each person’s cultural framework.” Marino said one of the findings from the informa- tional interviews was that many gun owners are already intervening when necessary by temporarily limiting access to firearms when someone is suicidal. “This really speaks toward understanding the coping strategies and resilience in communities to solve prob- lems and find ways to build on those,” she said. “We based our message on what people are already doing.” Joining Marino in the study were two OSU-Cascades col- leagues, psychologist and cor- responding author Christopher Wolsko and public health specialist Susan Keys, as well as Holly Wilcox of Johns Hopkins University. The La Pine Community Health Center and its medical direc- tor, Laura Pennavaria, also collaborated on the study. “That interdisciplinary per- spective really helped us pay attention to the cultural frame- work from which all of these attitudes and actions emerge,” Marino said. “There are more deaths by suicide than deaths by car accidents every year in the U.S., and suicide is the No. 1 means of violent death globally. It’s a really impor- tant, pressing issue nationally and internationally.” Marino notes that often someone will make the deci- sion to take his or her life, and then act on it, inside a five- minute window. “People believe if some- one wants to kill himself or herself, they will just eventu- ally do it, but that’s actually not the case,” she said. “If we can help them get past the rough patch, chances are great that people will survive. They go on to lead full, meaningful lives.” FULL DINNER MENU Tues.-Sat. 5 pm to close tasty thursday Live Music Hahn Family Wines • 5 to 7 pm Allan Byer Project Sat., August 5 • 7 to 9 pm Open Tuesday-Saturday 12-8 pm 391 W. Cascade Ave. | 541-549-2675 corkcellarswinebistro.com e id R u o Y If r ie p p a H e ’r u o Y a Bike Because You’ll… Reduce R d stress • S Strengthen h b bones & posture Burn calories & decrease body fat Have less strain & fewer injuries Increase strength, fl exibility, stamina & cardiovascular fi tness HAVE FUN! You already know how to ride a bike … come see us and we’ll get you on the best one for you! We rent, sell & repair mountain, road & around-town bikes We rent stand up paddleboards, too! ters Corner of Hood & Fir • Sis ek we a s day 541-549-2471 • 7 rs yea Celebrating 27
