Scoping Review: Suicide Specific Intervention Programmes for People Experiencing Homelessness

Characterizing Violent Fatalities Among People Experiencing Homelessness Using the National Violent Death Reporting System, 2010 to 2021

Homelessness continues to be a serious public health problem in the United States. People experiencing homelessness (PEH) face stark health inequities, including high mortality rates and increased risk of violence victimization. Little is known about the risk factors around PEH dying violently. The objective of this study is to comprehensively describe these fatalities to inform future research and prevention efforts for this population. This retrospective study utilized data from the National Violent Death Reporting System from 2010 to 2021 to characterize and compare fatalities among PEH versus people who were not experiencing homelessness (PNEH). This study identified 7,231 PEH and 423,363 PNEH victims. Among PEH, the most common manners of death were suicide (44.9%) and homicide (31.0%), most were male (83.0%), and White, non-Hispanic (59.3%). Compared to PNEH, a significantly greater proportion of PEH had an alcohol problem (26.9% vs. 15.2%; p < .001) or other substance use problem (48.8% vs. 19.6%; p < .001). Among decedents who had a current mental health problem (PEH: 33.6% vs. PNEH: 36.7%), a smaller percentage of PEH were currently receiving treatment (PEH: 13.9% vs. PNEH: 20.7%; p<.001). Among those who died by suicide, more PEH had a recent eviction/loss of home that contributed to the death, compared to PNEH (21.0% vs. 2.8%; p < .001). Among individuals who died by homicide, PEH were significantly more likely to be killed by a random act of violence (PEH: 5.1% vs. PNEH: 2.6%; p < .001). These findings highlight unique characteristics of violent deaths among PEH, including circumstances involving mental health and substance use problems, and identify key intervention points for suicide prevention among this population. Future research to help prevent violence-related deaths among PEH would benefit by improved data collection methods to reduce missing data and linkages with other data sources.

The Global Prevalence of Non-suicidal Self-injury, Suicide Behaviors, and Associated Risk Factors Among Runaway and Homeless Youth: A Meta-analysis

A meta-analysis was performed to determine pooled prevalence of non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI), suicide behaviors (including ideation, attempts), and associated risk factors among runaway and homeless youth (RHY). The databases PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and Cochrane Library were searched for relevant studies published from January 1995 to May 2023. Initially, 8465 papers were screened, resulting in 69 included studies. The results showed that among RHY, lifetime prevalence rates were 42% for NSSI, 38% for suicidal ideation, and 27% for suicide attempts. Lifetime prevalence of NSSI and suicide behaviors was higher among adolescent minors (aged 12-17 years) compared to young adults (aged 18-24 years). Also, NSSI and suicide behaviors were associated with having a childhood history of physical and sexual abuse. Developing an impactful community-based suicide prevention campaign tailored for RHY appears warranted. Peer groups and mentorship programs would provide invaluable support for young individuals, as supportive friendships protect against NSSI.

Suicidal Behaviors and Risk Taking Among Homeless Individuals: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

The present systematic review and meta-analysis study aimed to determine sociodemographic characteristics, risky behaviors, mental health disorders, and substance use disorders associated with suicide behaviors including suicidal ideation and suicide attempts among homeless individuals. PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and Cochrane Library databases were searched to identify the relevant studies published between January 1, 1995 and November 1, 2022. After initial evaluation of 9,094 papers, a total of 23 studies met the eligibility criteria. Results of the present study showed that chronic physical illnesses, violent behaviors, mood and psychotic disorders, and substance use disorders were significantly associated with both suicidal ideation and suicide attempts, while being older, having a history of physical abuse, and having mood and post-traumatic stress disorders were associated with suicide attempts only. The present study's findings suggest a crucial need for facilitating access to mental healthcare plans and promoting mental healthcare seeking among homeless individuals.

Increasing physical activity levels in care homes for older people: a quantitative scoping review of intervention studies to guide future research

PURPOSE

Physical activity (PA) levels in older care home residents are low. This has detrimental effects on health. Little is known about the nature of interventions to increase physical activity in this population.

METHODS

A scoping review to: (1) identify and describe interventions to increase PA in older care home residents, and (2) describe the extent to which interventions address care home context, systemised by social-ecological models. We systematically searched databases for peer-reviewed intervention studies to increase PA in older people resident in care homes. Data were extracted using the template for intervention description and replication (TIDieR) and mapped against a social-ecological framework to locate the intervention focus.

RESULTS

The 19 included studies consisted of interventions tested in randomised or quasi-experimental trial designs. Interventions consisted of single or multiple components and predominantly addressed individual resident level factors (such as muscle strength) rather than broader social and environmental aspects of context. Interventions were not all fully described. For most interventions a distinct theoretical foundation was not identified. Interventions were mostly delivered by health professionals and research staff external to care homes.

CONCLUSIONS

Future interventions should address contextual care home factors and should be clearly described according to intervention description guidance.Implications for rehabilitationPhysical activity holds promise as an effective means of improving health and function in older care home residents, but physical activity levels in this population are low.Several reasons beyond the individual resident but related to care home contextual factors may explain low PA in care homesTo date, contextual factors influencing PA in care homes have been poorly addressed in interventions.Wider care home context (social, cultural, and environmental factors) must be considered in future interventions.

Suicide Bomb Attack Identification and Analytics through Data Mining Techniques

Suicide bomb attacks are a high priority concern nowadays for every country in the world. They are a massively destructive criminal activity known as terrorism where one explodes a bomb attached to himself or herself, usually in a public place, taking the lives of many. Terrorist activity in different regions of the world depends and varies according to geopolitical situations and significant regional factors. There has been no significant work performed previously by utilizing the Pakistani suicide attack dataset and no data mining-based solutions have been given related to suicide attacks. This paper aims to contribute to the counterterrorism initiative for the safety of this world against suicide bomb attacks by extracting hidden patterns from suicidal bombing attack data. In order to analyze the psychology of suicide bombers and find a correlation between suicide attacks and the prediction of the next possible venue for terrorist activities, visualization analysis is performed and data mining techniques of classification, clustering and association rule mining are incorporated. For classification, Naïve Bayes, ID3 and J48 algorithms are applied on distinctive selected attributes. The results exhibited by classification show high accuracy against all three algorithms applied, i.e., 73.2%, 73.8% and 75.4%. We adapt the K-means algorithm to perform clustering and, consequently, the risk of blast intensity is identified in a particular location. Frequent patterns are also obtained through the Apriori algorithm for the association rule to extract the factors involved in suicide attacks.