Sponsor
The authors disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This project was funded by the National Institute of Mental Health under Award Numbers K23MH123934.
Published In
OTJR : Occupation, Participation and Health
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
11-26-2025
Subjects
Social work -- practice research, Autism -- research
Abstract
Participatory research is critical for developing appropriate and effective programs for specific communities. Suicide is a health inequity for autistic people and prevention is a high priority for autistic community members. Using community-based participatory research with autistic partners, we aimed to develop a research-informed, conceptually grounded, and community-supported suicide prevention program for the autism community. The participatory, multistep program development process included regular meetings to integrate existing research with an established intervention framework and was informed by 38 qualitative research interviews with autistic adults, family members, and mental health providers. The development process resulted in a four-part, virtual, education and community empowerment program-Forming Love around Autistic People to Prevent Suicide (FLAPS)-aimed at supporting organizations to engage in multilevel suicide prevention efforts. Participatory research that meaningfully engages autistic community partners can support the development of promising programs to promote suicide prevention for autistic people.
Rights
Copyright (c) 2025 The Authors
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Locate the Document
DOI
10.1177/15394492251391675
Persistent Identifier
https://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/44272
Publisher
SAGE Publications
Citation Details
Kirby, A. V., Feldman, K., Duncan-Ishcomer, B., Kripke-Ludwig, R., Joyce, A., Lee, W., Rodriguez, K., Siddeek, Z., Darlington, A., Atisme, A., Clark, W., Murthi, K., Wexler, L., & Nicolaidis, C. (2025). Participatory Development of a Suicide Prevention Program for Autism Community Organizations. OTJR: Occupational Therapy Journal of Research.