The first 72 hours: Suicide loss survivor experiences with early responders.

Exposure to a suicide carries risks for loss survivors including significant and long-standing emotional distress. Early responders play a critical role in shaping survivors' experience and trajectory for seeking support services. Yet, few prior studies explore the nuances of early responders' interactions with loss survivors. The current study explored suicide-bereaved adults' experiences with early responders in the first 72 h after their loss through four group interviews. Participants (N = 15) indicated that interactions with early responders were positive overall. Yet, the lack of resources and referrals provided, and perceived stigmatization of suicide may contribute to survivors' delay in obtaining support services.

Physician concern over medication intake: a simple measure of medication use.

Medication use is commonly measured in clinical pain control studies. Equivalence to a standard medication (e.g., morphine), effective dosage, and percent changes from before to after treatment have been used to provide quantitative medication intake measures which are amenable to statistical analysis. Problems with these methods arise when specific medications are not found in an extant table or when combinations of medications interact in their effectiveness or side effects. In the present study, a Q-sort technique, whereby physicians rated concern over medication intake, provided a simple, rapid measure of medication intake which is sensitive to treatment effects and is amenable to statistical analysis.