Sociocultural contexts of attempting suicide among Iranian youth: a qualitative study

This paper seeks to illuminate the sociocultural contexts of attempting suicide among Iranian youth. A qualitative approach was employed to uncover the social and cultural dimensions of attempting suicide. In-depth interviews were conducted with 25 participants aged 14-17 years who attempted suicide and were admitted to 2 of the hospitals in Isfahan. A thematic analysis approach was employed. The main themes identified were failure in love, family problems, study, pressure of high expectations and poverty. The findings suggest significant sociocultural influence on attempting suicide in the Islamic Republic of Iran. Exploring sociocultural aspects of suicide is critical in providing effective and culturally-sensitive suicide prevention and care programmes

[Hospitals preparedness for HEICS establishment in Isfahan University of Medical Sciences]

Using an effective management system can minimize negative effects of emergency incidents in hospitals and achieve maximum efficiency with using minimum of facilities and human resources. Hospital Emergency Incident Command System [HEICS] is one of the most reliable emergency incident command system for preparing and increasing the hospitals efficiency. The aim of this study is to identify the hospitals preparedness in order to establish HEICS in Isfahan University of medical sciences. In this qualitative research, some senior managers of Isfahan University of medical sciences and key informants in emergency incidents management were selected and surveyed by in depth interview in 2008. The data was collected by using nonrandom purposeful sampling, semi-structured interview and also snowball method, and then it was analyzed by Klizy method. The findings were classified into two general categories including barriers [internal and external] of HEICS establishment and also adopting short, mid and long term strategies. Regarding barriers in establishment of HEICS, it is recommended that the authorities take measures in different levels of health and care system to implement as soon as possible by encouraging and supporting systems