The ethics of facing the Other in suicide.

Despite a plethora of existing literature on the topic of suicide, very little attention has been given to research ethics in practice in research on suicide. When suicide research does pay attention to the ethical issues researchers are likely to face, the focus is on the roles institutional human ethics review committees fulfil to ensure ethical conduct in all stages of research. In response to this problem, this article focuses on the philosophical relationship between qualitative methodology and research ethics in the context of researching queer youth suicide. In so doing, I draw on my experiences of interviewing gender-and sexually diverse young people about their familiarity with suicide. These experiences are based on a qualitative pilot study I conducted on queer youth suicide, which used the unstructured interview technique to collect data. Drawing on the works of Emmanuel Levinas and Judith Butler, I examine what it means to face the alterity of the suicidal 'Other', and what this facing entails in terms of research ethics as relational. I argue that facing reveals not only myself as more vulnerable than I anticipated, but also the suicidal 'Other' as agentic instead of only vulnerable and at-risk of suicide.

Suicide in older people: Revisioning new approaches.

This discussion paper identifies and examines several tensions inherent in traditional approaches to understanding older people's suicide. Predicted future increases in the absolute number of elderly suicides are subject to careful interpretation due to the underreporting of suicides in older age groups. Furthermore, a significant number of studies of older people's death by suicide examine risk factors or a combination of risk factors in retrospect only, while current approaches to suicide prevention in the elderly place disproportionate emphasis on the identification and treatment of depression. Taken together, such tensions give rise to a monologic view of research and practice, ultimately limiting our potential for understanding older people's experience of suicide and suicidal behaviour. New approaches are necessary if we are to move beyond the current narrow focus that prevails. Fresh thinking, which draws on older people's experience of attempting to die by suicide, might offer critical insight into socially-constructed meanings attributed to suicide and suicidal behaviour by older people. Specifically, identification through research into the protective mechanisms that are relevant and available to older people who have been suicidal is urgently needed to effectively guide mental health nurses and health-care professionals in therapeutic engagement and intervention.

Older men's participation in community-based men's sheds programmes.

The purpose of this qualitative study was to investigate the lived experience of older men taking part in community-based shed programmes. Five men, aged 65 and over, who attended two different community sheds participated in semi-structured in-depth interviews in 2007. Data were analysed thematically with six main themes emerging as follows: 'company of fellas'; 'everybody's got a story to tell'; 'still got some kick'; 'passing on your experiences'; 'get on your goat' and; 'nobody's boss'. Participation in community-based men's sheds positively influences the health and well-being of older Australian men through provision of a 'men's space' in which meaningful activities occur. Provision of community-based men's shed programmes as among a range of activity options in the community may contribute positively to the physical, mental, social and occupational health of older men.

'Nowadays you don't even see your neighbours': loneliness in the everyday lives of older Australians.

Loneliness is a pressing social issue for older people globally. Despite this, there is a paucity of studies on how older people themselves perceive loneliness and how service providers can support them. This study sought to address the gap using in-depth and semi-structured interviews with 60 older people and eight focus groups with aged care service providers in Australia in 2007. A purposive sampling strategy was employed to incorporate maximum participant variation. People 65 years and over were recruited from four large service providers in two Australian states. Our findings show that loneliness is influenced by private, relational and temporal dimensions and whether older people feel that they have, or are seen by others as having, a sense of connectedness with the wider community. Participants expressed the importance of maintaining social contact and having a sense of connection and belonging to the community. Our study highlights both the significance of gathering the views of older people to generate an understanding about loneliness and the need to recognise loneliness as a diverse and complex experience, bound to the context in which it is understood and perceived and not synonymous with social isolation. Such an understanding can be used to both evaluate and improve upon programmes that address loneliness and to help maintain an integration of older people in the community.