Biomedical subjects

M Upanne

Publications and source records attributed to M Upanne.

5 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2001

Mass media, cultural attitudes, and suicide. Results of an international comparative study.

Many studies indicate that the suicidal behavior in a society is affected by the suicide stories publicized. Cultural valuations appear in the way media present self-destruction. The reflection of sociocultural attitudes toward suicide can be observed and analyzed in these texts. In this research, reports about suicide (n = 2203) in the years from 1981 and 1991 taken from daily newspapers were gathered--three central and regional papers in each country. A content analysis was performed of the suicide reports in Hungary (n = 244), Japan (n = 684), the United States (n = 265), Germany (former West n = 458, former East n = 60), Austria (n = 405), and Finland (n = 81), on the basis of the following variables: mentioning of the name, personal data, prominence of the suicidal person, qualification of the suicide, methods, motives, positive or negative consequences, alternatives, and the expression(s) used to refer to the act. After a coding process, an analysis was conducted as to whether any significant differences existed in the rate of the several characteristics in the countries from the point of view of the possible imitation-identification and of the cultural differences are the most important findings interpreted.

Attitude↗

PubMed2001

A model-based analysis of professional practices in suicide prevention.

AIMS: The purpose of this study was to investigate what suicide prevention means in terms of practical interventions. Another purpose was to assess the feasibility of a previously developed theoretical model for analysing suicide prevention (1-3). METHODS: The data consisted of plans for action provided by professionals from five fields (n = 173) (psychologists [n = 41], clergy [n=37], nurses [n=34], social workers [n=32], and physicians [n=29]) as responses to an inquiry within the National Suicide Prevention Project in Finland. The plans were operationally described and theoretically interpreted using the model. RESULTS: The analysis indicated that practice patterns were more or less similar irrespective of the focus of suicide prevention. Neither did clear sectoral or professional profiles of practice appear. Clinical topics, individually focused interventions and curative strategies constituted the main approach. Interventions focused mainly on risk factors, the priorities being life crises, acute risk of suicide, coping of survivors, and a suicide attempt. The bulk of the strategies were aimed at developing professional interventions and skills. CONCLUSIONS: The model proved to be a feasible tool for differentiating and theoretically interpreting suicide-prevention approaches. The paradigm adopted by the sectors was versatile and comprehensive: the activities were multifocused, all aims of prevention and locations of intervention were included, and a common set of interventions--a "multimethod approach"--was applied. The adoption of the idea of risk as well as of protective factors can be interpreted as reflecting a process theory of suicide development.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗

PubMed2000

A model for analyzing suicide prevention.

This study monitored the evolution of psychologists' (n = 31) conceptions of suicide prevention over the 9-year course of the National Suicide Prevention Project in Finland and assessed the feasibility of the theoretical model for analyzing suicide prevention developed in earlier studies [Upanne, 1999a,b]. The study was formulated as a retrospective self-assessment where participants compared their earlier descriptions of suicide prevention with their current views. The changes in conceptions were analyzed and interpreted using both the model and the explanations given by the subjects themselves. The analysis proved the model to be a useful framework for revealing the essential features of prevention. The results showed that the freely-formulated ideas on prevention were more comprehensive than those evolved in practical work. Compared to the earlier findings, the conceptions among the group had shifted toward emphasizing a curative approach and the significance of individual risk factors. In particular, greater priority was focused on the acute suicide risk phase as a preventive target. Nonetheless, the overall structure of prevention ideology remained comprehensive and multifactorial, stressing multistage influencing. Promotive aims (protective factors) also remained part of the prevention paradigm. Practical working experiences enhanced the psychologists' sense of the difficulties of suicide prevention as well as their criticism and feeling of powerlessness.

Adult↗

PubMed1999

A model for the description and interpretation of suicide prevention.

Views about suicide prevention are based on underlying beliefs about the origins of problems and basic concepts about humankind. These implicit theories have an effect on prevention practices. Making these views explicit is one of the keys for the further development of suicide prevention. In this study a paradigm for analyzing suicide prevention of means of a coding frame and interpreting findings by means of theoretical models of prevention was elaborated. The analysis was based on empirical data consisting of definitions of prevention given by psychologists (N = 34) participating in the national suicide prevention project in Finland. The study demonstrates that suicide prevention can be differentiated at the operational level by means of the analysis method generated. Moreover, the findings can be interpreted according to theoretical criteria. Views expressed by the psychologists seemed to correspond largely to central features of current prevention models. Furthermore, the data can be seen to serve as an empirical validation of these models. Suicide prevention proved to be a multifactorial concept manifesting mainly process theory and interactional explanations of suicidality, and prevention practices fell into a simple typology of four categories.

Adult↗

PubMed1996

Evaluation strategy for Finland's suicide prevention project.

Finland's suicide prevention project (1987-1996) has proceeded to its final phase, evaluation. In this article the general structure of the evaluation and the strategy for evaluating the implementation phase (1992-1996) are presented. The evaluation aims to look at the success of the project in its target areas and the critical factors involved. It deals with the intervention strategies evolved, as well as indicators of progress in suicide prevention activities. A process evaluation approach is used to evaluate the national strategy and the project. The first follow-up (1993) and preliminary results from the ongoing evaluation (1996) show that the project is being largely successful in meeting the operative challenges formulated in the national strategy.

Finland↗