Determining the Efficacy and Scope of Gender-Specific Behavioral Health Screening Tools

Across all ages and ethnicities, American men commit suicide at far higher rates than women. According to the most recent CDC data, between the ages of 15 and 64, roughly 3.5x more men than women commit suicide. Overall, for males, suicide is the seventh leading cause of death. For females, it’s number 14. A recent panel of experts convened by PCORI and Men's Health Network (MHN) concluded that more needed to be done to help stem this crisis, yet there was still a challenge in identifying, and subsequently getting needed assistance to, those most in need. The project team knows that men are most likely to respond to those who are closest to them in the community—coaches, mentors, faith-based personnel—and there is a needs analysis gap as clearly the current techniques designed to identify those most at risk are not as effective as desired.

MHN proposes to convene a panel of front-line experts—community-based organizations, patient advocacy groups, faith-based organizations—and others with a potential interest in this topic. The goal is to assess the specific needs of those individuals with regard to identifying at-risk males where they are most engaged, such as sporting activities, church environments, and community events.

Objectives:

• Establish recommendations for the need, or lack thereof, for gender-specific, patient-oriented screenings for nonclinical evaluation
• Determine a pipeline methodology for best-case-scenario handoffs for at-risk males
• Define and clarify the appropriate resources required for handoff
• Present further recommendations for outcome-oriented research

The key deliverables are an organized, ranked, path-forward series of recommendations and findings that can lay the groundwork for screenings, toolkits, or further implementation procedures targeting front-line personnel. The project team intends to embrace a broad scope of participants and actively seek observations and opinions on how to best leverage the resources currently at hand and help provide additional, necessary resources for optimizing outcomes.