United States Air Force Suicide Prevention Program

The United States Air Force Suicide Prevention Program (AFSPP) is a population-oriented approach to reducing the risk of suicide. The Air Force has implemented 11 initiatives aimed at strengthening social support, promoting development of social skills, and changing policies and norms to encourage effective help-seeking behaviors. AFSPP's 11 initiatives include: 1) Leadership Involvement, 2) Suicide Prevention in Professional Military Education, 3) Guidelines for Use of Mental Health Services, 4) Community Preventive Services, 5) Community Education and Training, 6) Investigative Interview Policy, 7) Critical Incident Stress Management, 8) Integrated Delivery System (IDS), 9) Limited Privilege Suicide Prevention Program, 10) Behavioral Health Survey, and 11) Suicide Event Surveillance System.

The goal of this program is to reduce the number of lives lost to suicide among Air Force members.

A cohort of active-duty U.S. Air Force personnel exposed to the intervention between 1997 and 2002, was compared to a cohort not exposed between 1990 and 1996. The intervention cohort experienced a 33% relative risk reduction compared to the control cohort (p < 0.001). The intervention cohort also experienced relative risk reductions for homicide (51%, p = 0.05), accidental death (18%, p = 0.05), severe family violence (54%, p < 0.0001), and moderate family violence (30%, p < 0.0001) when compared to the control cohort.