Dr. Tyler Pritchard's research focuses on self-injurious behaviors, including suicide and non-suicidal self-injury.

"My colleagues and I have published some important work in this field," he said. "Our work has focused on identifying strengths and limitations in the field of rural suicidology."

First, his team conducted a comprehensive review that examined the operationalization of "rural" in rural suicidology (Pritchard et al., 2024a).

"Given inconsistencies in defining rural areas, our review highlighted significant variability in reported suicide risk factors between rural and nonrural areas, emphasizing the need for clearer definitions in future research," said Dr. Pritchard. "Furthermore, our review highlighted the potential limitations of applying rural suicidology findings uniformly across regions to inform suicide assessment, intervention and prevention."

Building on these findings, he and his colleagues conducted a study focusing on the perspectives of rural healthcare providers (HCPs) in NL regarding unique risk factors, concerns, and needs specific to rural life (Pritchard et al., 2024b).

Dr. Tyler Pritchard

"Through semi-structured interviews, our study identified individual, psychological, social and practical factors influencing suicide risk in these areas. The findings of our study underscore the challenges of delivering healthcare in rural NL and provide insight for developing targeted prevention and intervention strategies that work for Newfoundlanders and Labradorians."

Dr. Pritchard and his colleagues have several ongoing projects in the field that they hope to further contribute to our understanding of suicide and, thus, supporting individuals struggling with suicidality.

"For example, I am currently exploring the role of thwarted belongingness and perceived burdensomeness in contributing to suicidal ideations in rural HCPs," he said. "Additionally, my honours student and I are seeking to understand the role of connectedness, which has historically been studied as a purely social construct, as a protective factor against suicide. For example, we are seeking to understand how increased connection to culture or nature may be associated with decreased suicidal ideations."

References

Pritchard, T. R., Buckle, J. L., Thomassin, K., & Lewis, S. P. (2024a). Rural suicide: A systematic review and recommendations. Clinical Psychological Science, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/21677026241234319
Pritchard, T. R., Buckle, J. L., Thomassin, K., & Lewis, S. P. (2024b). Rural suicide in Newfoundland and Labrador: A qualitative exploration of health care ' perspectives. PLOS ONE, 19(8). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0306929