Preventing Firearm Suicide Deaths Among Black/African American Adults

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PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT This is a K18 award application for Dr. Evan Goldstein, an experienced health services researcher with expertise in suicide and health care disparities research. The K18 will provide Dr. Goldstein with the support necessary to expand his research program through new techniques and collaborations in three key career enhancement areas: 1) Developing qualitative research skills to enrich his quantitative work; 2) Enhancing his expertise in stakeholder engagement processes and community-engaged intervention development with underserved and underrepresented populations, focusing on Black/African American (AA) communities; and 3) Cultivating and strengthening his research leadership skills in community-engaged firearm suicide prevention research. To achieve his goals, Dr. Goldstein has assembled an interdisciplinary mentorship team comprised of Dr. Jennie Hill (Mentor), an expert in qualitative and community-engaged research, and Dr. Hilary Coon (Co- Mentor), a senior scientist and recognized leader in suicide research. Three advisors join the mentorship team (Drs. Eric Seiber, Adam Bress, and Laura Prater), providing additional expertise in firearm safety research, racial/ethnic disparities, interventions with underserved populations, mixed-methods research, and leadership. More than 1 in 2 Black/AA suicide deaths involve firearms, the most lethal suicide method. Dr. Goldstein’s objectives are to identify the life situations specifically preceding firearm suicide deaths among Black/AA adults and gather feedback from health professionals and community members on how health systems can intervene to prevent firearm suicides in Black/AA communities. He proposes the following Specific Aims: Aim 1) Identify circumstances preceding firearm suicide among Black/AA adults; Aim 2) Conduct interviews with Black/AA firearm owners to better understand their attitudes on firearm safety and their willingness to discuss firearm safety with health professionals; and Aim 3) Gather health professional feedback on which circumstances preceding firearm suicide deaths could be used to adapt and prompt Counseling on Access to Lethal Means (CALM) for Black/AA adult patients. This proposal will respond to NIH’s call for researchers to identify risk factors and improve firearm suicide prevention in racial/ethnic minority communities, specifically focusing on Black/AA adults. The proposed research is significant because it will fill a critical need for determining key circumstances preceding firearm suicide deaths among Black/AA adults and identifying potential intervention scenarios. The proposed research is innovative because it will harness medical examiner/coroner and law enforcement report information paired with community member and health professional interviews to generate information about firearm safety and ways to make lethal means counseling more population-informed and effective for Black/AA adult patients.