postvention

Postvention is a set of interventions conducted after a suicide or other traumatic death to support those affected and to prevent additional harms, including future suicides. It sits within the broader field of suicide prevention and is distinct from prevention (reducing risk before a crisis) and intervention (addressing ongoing risk). Postvention efforts involve mental health professionals, schools, workplaces, media, and community organizations and may begin with immediate crisis response and extend into longer-term bereavement support.

Common activities include outreach to families and friends, risk assessment for relatives and survivors, provision of grief counseling or referral to services, and the facilitation of support groups. Educational resources about normal and complicated grief, coping strategies, and crisis warning signs are offered, along with careful coordination of memorial practices that are respectful of cultural and religious beliefs. Media guidelines aim to minimize sensational reporting and imitation risks. Effective postvention also involves collaborating with local agencies, religious communities, and schools to ensure continuity of care and confidentiality.

Evidence for postvention's impact is varied but suggests that well-planned postvention can reduce distress, improve access to mental health services, and potentially lower subsequent suicide risk among the bereaved. Guidelines and frameworks have been developed by organizations such as the World Health Organization, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and suicide-prevention nonprofits, and are applied in settings ranging from schools to workplaces to communities after mass or individual suicides.