Providing meaningful care: learning from the experiences of suicidal young men.
Little is known about young suicidal men's preferences for care. Using a broad interpretive approach, we interviewed 36 formerly suicidal young men in a study addressing the development and provision of mental health services. Our analysis yielded three core categories: widening access and bolstering proactive outreach, on becoming a man, and equipping young men for future challenges. Collectively, these categories suggest key features and processes of appropriate service configuration and clinical care: (a) services that reach out proactively serve to encourage young men's initial and ongoing engagement; (b) care delivered over the long term ensures a necessary focus on a meaningful future life; (c) mental health professionals (MHPs) are centrally involved alongside significant others, including those with personal experience of suicide; and (d) the development of a vital interpersonal connection is based on MHPs actively communicating their empathy, open-mindedness, and interest in a young man's unique biography.
University of Ulster, Jordanstown, UK.
Joanne
J
Jordan
Hugh
H
McKenna
Sinead
S
Keeney
John
J
Cutcliffe
Chris
C
Stevenson
Paul
P
Slater
Iain
I
McGowan
D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D000367:Age Factors; D017028:Caregivers / Q000523:psychology; D003159:Community-Institutional Relations; D006801:Humans; D007858:Learning; D008297:Male; D057228:Masculinity; D054526:Men's Health; D008603:Mental Health; D008605:Mental Health Services; D009660:Northern Ireland / Q000453:epidemiology; D036301:Qualitative Research; D012307:Risk Factors; D012649:Self Concept; D013405:Suicide / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data