Prevention of suicide: psychology’s contributions to public health

Abstract

This article reviews the contributions of the psychologist’s role in preventing suicidal behavior in the public health context. It is a qualitative research of systematic literature review using the combination of the descriptors: “Suicide prevention, suicide behavior, suicide epidemiology, suicide risk factors, protection factors and psychologist’s performance. The following databases were consulted: Scientific Online Library in Electronic Health (SciELO), Health Sciences Literature of Latin America and the Caribbean (LILACS). We selected 26 publications that match the inclusion criteria. The contributions of the psychologist’s role in public health and their functions in the context of the SUS were discussed. The challenges of the health team’s performance in the face of suicide demands were perceived. No research was found in the seek of the publications that dealt with the psychologist’s exclusive role in suicide prevention. It was concluded that there is a need to conduct empirical studies documenting the benefits of the psychologist’s role in preventing public health suicide to increase the progress of public health policies.