Local suicides by gun among the disadvantaged, those of color and young adults are a call to action: Brian Lane and Edward M. Barksdale Jr. [Video]

Deaths by firearm suicide are acts of despair rooted in economic deprivation. Compounding these realities are barriers such as limited employment opportunities, lack of access to training and education for a rapidly evolving economic environment, and the lack of behavioral health services for individuals burdened by hopelessness, write guest columnists Brian Lane, president and CEO of the Center for Health Affairs, and Dr. Edward M. Barksdale Jr., co-chair of the SDoH Hub Firearm Violence Work Group and surgeon-in-chief at Rainbow Babies and Children’s Hospital/University Hospitals and Case Western Reserve School of Medicine.