Older people

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Older people are disproportionately impacted by suicide in Australia.1

  • Males aged 85 years and older experience the highest age-specific suicide rate across all age groups.1
  • In 2023, females aged over 85 years had one of the highest age-specific suicide rates of all female age groups.2

NSW Health defines older people as those aged 65 years and over. Aboriginal people aged 50 years and over can access specific services for older people, e.g. Older People’s Mental Health services.

Risk factors and challenges

Older people can have an increased risk of suicide due to:

  • grief and bereavement
  • unresolved trauma
  • ageism
  • financial distress, unemployment and poverty
  • social isolation and loneliness
  • loss of ability to live independently due to physical health, disability or age-related difficulties
  • living with chronic health issues or chronic pain
  • existing mental health conditions
  • perceiving oneself to be a burden on others
  • retirement and losing a sense of purpose or role in life
  • losing their sense of agency, i.e. the ability to make their own decisions.2

Considerations

Guiding principles for aftercare services supporting older people

  • Anti‐ageism
  • Anti‐stigma
  • Empowerment and agency
  • Conveying hope
  • Patience and pace
  • Accessibility
  • Finding purpose through connections and meaningful activity3
  • People of different ages may need different approaches.
  • Consider home-based, in-reach appointments.
  • Don’t assume that older people cannot, or do not want to, learn how to engage with technology. Consider measures to support the use of technology with skill‐based learning or adapting technology and engagement to suit the person's needs.
  • Older people may have difficulty with communication and/or comprehension due to sensory and/or cognitive impairments. Consider communication strategies to accommodate this.
  • Be patient and don’t make assumptions about a person’s abilities or needs.
  • Recognise that crisis and self-harm may look different for older people, e.g. refusing to eat, refusal to address health issues and terminal conditions, or misuse of medications.
  • Avoid or challenge thoughts of therapeutic nihilism, i.e. the view that treatment has limited, or no benefit, to the consumer.

Recommended resources

Information about suicide among older adults
Outlines the evidence on suicide in older people, including risk factors and what may protect against suicide risk.
Source: Life in Mind

Older people’s mental health services
Overview of older people’s mental health services in NSW, including hospital and community-based services.
Source: NSW Health

Older people’s suicide prevention pathway project: evaluation report
Findings and recommendations from the older people’s suicide prevention pathway project.
Source: NSW Health

Suicide prevention for seniors program
Program for anyone supporting older people who may be experiencing thoughts of suicide.
Source: Anglicare

References

  1. Causes of Death, Australia: Intentional Self-Harm Deaths (Suicide) in Australia. Canberra (AU): Australian Bureau of Statistics; 2023 [cited 25 Sept 2024].
  2. Older Adults: Priority Populations in Suicide Prevention. Newcastle (AU): Life in Mind Australia; 2023 [cited 29 Sept 2024].
  3. Wand AP, Karageorge A, Browne R, et al. A Qualitative Study of Multiple Voices to Inform Aftercare Services for Older Persons Following Self-Harm. Int J Geriatr Psychiatry. 2023;e5876. DOI: 10.1002/gps.5876
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