Matrix model for suicide prevention: Focus on Canada and India

Studies have consistently shown differences in suicide rates and demographics between urban and rural areas in countries in several parts of the world, including English-speaking Western countries, Scandinavia, Eastern and Central Europe, and Asian countries including Japan, India, and Sri Lanka (Hirsch, 2006). Suicide research on epidemiology, service utilization and prevention strategies tend to focus on urban areas, resulting in a conceptualization of suicide which may not be applicable to rural populations (Hirsch, 2006). Rural areas have differing geographical, socioeconomic, political and cultural characteristics that must be considered in the development and implementation of evidence-based suicide prevention strategies. Many countries have identified rural suicide as a major public health concern and share common challenges in developing prevention strategies. Our earlier collaborations focused on the commonalities and differences found between suicide in Canada and China (Zaheer et al., 2011-12). This chapter describes the collaborative effort to understand suicide from an international perspective, focusing on Canada and India.