Suicides in Utah have soared since the turn of the millennium and require an aggressive societal response to implement prevention efforts and carefully monitor the effectiveness of those programs, according to a new report issued by a Utah public policy research group.
The report, prepared by The Utah Foundation, concludes that suicide prevention efforts in the state are hindered by a lack of data collection related to results, making it difficult to determine which programs are effective and to improve existing practices.
Utah ranks fifth nationally for its suicide rate, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Its rate in 2016 was 24.2 suicides per 100,000 people, up from 15.8 per 100,000 in 1999, the report says.
Of the eight Mountain States — Utah, Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, Nevada and Wyoming — all but Arizona ranked in the top 10 nationally for suicides in 2016, the most recent year for which data was available.
“Getting to Tomorrow: Addressing Suicide in Utah and the Mountain States” looks at suicides in the state by county, examining possible risk factors and their correlation to deaths.
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