The Department of Veterans Affairs is now working with more than 1,000 local community coalitions engaged in ending veteran suicide.
These coalitions, established through VA’s Public Health Model for Suicide Prevention, now reach more than 7.5 million veterans nationwide.
By combining community coalitions with clinical intervention strategies as outlined in VA’s National Strategy for Preventing Veteran Suicide, these coalitions help reduce the risk of suicide by providing Veterans with tailored resources and direct support in the communities where they work and live.
One example is the Monona County Suicide Prevention Coalition in Iowa, which recently implemented an “Ask the Question” campaign to open lines of communication between veterans, their community members, and their medical providers.
Preventing veteran suicide is VA’s top clinical priority and a top priority of the Biden-Harris administration, as outlined in the White House Strategy for Preventing Military and Veteran Suicide 2021.
In September, VA released the 2022 National Veteran Suicide Prevention Annual Report, which showed veteran suicides decreased from 2019 to 2020, and fewer veterans died by suicide in 2020 than in any year since 2006.
In 2020, there were 6,146 veteran suicide deaths, which was 343 fewer than in 2019. The unadjusted rate of suicide in 2020 among U.S. veterans was 31.7 per 100,000.
Over the period from 2001 to 2020, age- and sex-adjusted suicide rates for veterans peaked in 2018 and then fell in 2019 and 2020. From 2018 to 2020, age- and sex-adjusted suicide rates for veterans fell by 9.7%.
Among non-veteran U.S. adults, age- and sex-adjusted suicide rates also peaked in 2018 and fell in 2019 and 2020. From 2018 to 2020, age- and sex-adjusted suicide rates for non-veteran adults fell by 5.5%.
From 2019 to 2020, the age- and sex-adjusted suicide rate for veterans fell by 4.8%, while for non-veteran U.S. adults the adjusted rate fell by 3.6%.
From 2019 to 2020, among veteran men, the age-adjusted suicide rate fell by 0.7%, and among veteran women the age-adjusted suicide rate fell by 14.1%. By comparison, among non-veteran U.S. men, the age-adjusted rate fell by 2.1%, and among non-veteran women the age-adjusted rate fell by 8.4%.
Comparisons of trends in veteran suicide and COVID-19 mortality over the course of 2020 and across veteran demographic and clinical subgroups did not indicate an impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on veteran suicide mortality.
“One suicide will always be one too many, and it will take all of us — working together — to end Veteran suicide,” said VA Secretary Denis McDonough. “We are working with these coalitions to support Veterans at risk of suicide all across America, combining VA’s clinical expertise with on-the-ground community interventions to save lives.”
As a part of President Biden’s Unity Agenda and the Biden-Harris Administration’s comprehensive plan to reduce military and Veteran suicide, VA has recently announced or continued several additional efforts to end Veteran suicide.
In January, VA announced Veterans in acute suicidal crisis can go to any VA or non-VA health care facility for emergent suicide care including inpatient or crisis residential care for up to 30 days and outpatient care for up to 90 days.
In response to the National Suicide Hotline Designation Act designating the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, the Department of Veterans Affairs has made it more user friendly to access the Veterans Crisis Line with Dial 988 then Press 1.
VA has also awarded $20 million through Mission Daybreak, a grand challenge aimed at developing innovations to reduce Veteran suicides; granted more than $52 million to 80 community-based organizations through the Staff Sergeant Parker Gordon Fox Suicide Prevention Grant Program; conducted an ongoing public outreach effort on firearm suicide prevention and lethal means safety; and leveraged a national Veteran suicide prevention awareness campaign, “Don’t Wait. Reach Out.”
Local communities can learn more about how to establish coalitions by visiting the Community Based Interventions for Suicide Prevention Overview and emailing VHASPPCBISP@va.gov.