Suicide Postvention: A Growing Challenge for Higher Education Administrators

Over the past two decades, suicide rates have been increasing steadily in the United States (Hedeggaard, et al. 2018), which has led to many higher education institutions exploring ways to prevent, intervene, and respond to student suicides. While prevention and intervention are vital components to addressing suicides on college campuses, postvention receives far less attention in the literature. This study conducted qualitative interviews exploring the challenges higher education administrators face with student suicide postvention. Results indicated three main challenges administrators face: a lack of formal training on postvention, challenges with notification procedures, and struggles balancing memorialization of a student and the risk of suicide contagion. Our findings point to a need for institutions to develop trainings and consistent messaging in their suicide postvention efforts. Higher education must also establish and effectively disseminate student suicide postvention best practices and guidelines.