Recruiting bereaved family and friends left behind after a suicide loss to participate in research

Although understanding bereavement experiences following a suicide is necessary for development of better interventions to support and provide mental health care services for friends and family members, recruiting suicide loss survivors (friends and family members left behind following a suicide) to participate in research presents challenges. Expanding recruitment to include previously underrepresented male and rural participants can further complicate recruitment. In this paper, the author describes the methods used for recruiting suicide loss survivors (the friends and family members left behind following loss of a loved one to suicide) to participate in this qualitative research study. Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram were useful social media platforms used to recruit 28 participants for telephone interviews. Participants in this study reported an interest in research in hopes they could help others with suicide bereavement.