Elective course suicide prevention in older adults
Keywords:
suicide; elderly; suicide prevention; medical educationAbstract
Introduction: Suicide prevention in older adults constitutes a challenge for medical education, requiring a biopsychosocial and humanistic approach. The objective is to present the design of an elective course focused on suicide prevention in older adults, which strengthens the teaching-learning process in the Medical Degree.
Methods: A developmental educational research was conducted at the University of Medical Sciences of Ciego de Ávila during the 2025 academic year, within the project Characterization of suicide in Ciego de Ávila. Theoretical methods such as analysis, synthesis, and bibliographic review were used; as well as empirical methods such as documentary analysis, a survey of 25 students, observation of 12 work-based education activities, and semi-structured interviews with 8 directors.
Results: The diagnosis showed that 84.0% of students considered their preparation insufficient, 83.3% of the activities did not address suicide prevention, and 100% of the directors agreed on the relevance of the proposal. Based on these findings, a 34-hour elective course was designed, structured in three topics, with a comprehensive, prophylactic, and individualized approach, and evaluation based on self-evaluation, hetero-evaluation, and co-evaluation.
Discussion: The course "Suicide Prevention in Older Adults from Undergraduate Medical Education" constitutes a pertinent response, pending empirical validation, to a gap in medical education. Its thematic structure, pedagogical approach, and evaluation system are related to the recommendations of specialized literature and the requirements of Study Plan E of the Medical Degree.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Llesenia González Noyola, Osmel Rodríguez Companioni, Aymé Alberna Cardoso, Evelio José Ramírez Lara, Claudia María Cordero de la Paz
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