Building Capacity to Prevent Veteran Suicide

Veterans are a particularly vulnerable population. Data from the Department of Veteran Affairs from 2019 show the veteran suicide rate was 1.5 times higher than non-veterans. The rate of suicide among younger veterans aged 18-34 far exceeds that of other age groups, while the number of veteran deaths by suicide is highest among those aged 55-74.

• Suicide is a leading cause of death for Americans overall and rose 33 percent between 1999 and 2019.
• In 2020, the year for which we have the most recent mortality data, nearly 46,000 lives were lost to suicide.
• In fact, many people who die by suicide are not known to have a diagnosed mental health condition at the time of death.

Mental health conditions are often seen as the sole cause of suicide, but suicide is rarely caused by any single factor. Other problems often contribute to suicide, such as those related to relationships, substance misuse, physical health, and job, money, legal, or housing stress.

Suicide is preventable.

Suicide is rarely caused by any single factor, which means there are multiple pathways for prevention. To help veteran-serving organizations (VSOs) better evaluate the effectiveness of their suicide prevention programs, the CDC Foundation was awarded a federal grant to work on the Veteran Suicide Prevention: Evaluation Demonstration (VSPE) Project in partnership with the CDC’s National Center for Injury Prevention and Control.

Through the VSPE project the CDC Foundation awards and administers short-term mini grants to VSOs that are implementing suicide prevention programs focused on reducing risk factors and promote protective factors. The funding supports VSO grantees in developing, implementing and strengthening program evaluation. VSOs use this data and feedback to continually assess and improve their work by ensuring they reach their target populations, assessing the effectiveness of the program among specific populations and identifying successes, challenges and areas to focus their resources. VSOs develop either formative, process or outcome evaluation to understand program efficiency and to measure the extent to which a program aligns with its objectives.

Program Impact

The VSPE project has awarded 17 veteran-serving organizations in the five years of the project which have contributed to advancing capacity of evaluation efforts, promoting evidence-based strategies for suicide prevention, and increasing communication to combat stigmatization of suicide. Read more in the CDC Foundation’s Impact Report Year 1-3.

CDC is working towards broader, community-level protection against suicide. By building the evidence base around what works within existing VSO prevention programs, this project aims ultimately to prevent and reduce veteran suicide by reaching those at risk before they are in crisis.

Impact Stories: