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. 2025 Jan 7:10778012241303471.
doi: 10.1177/10778012241303471. Online ahead of print.

The Promise of a Retreat: Perspectives of U.S. Women Veterans and Interdisciplinary Experts on the Development of a Retreat-Based Suicide Prevention Program for Violence-Exposed Women Veterans

Candice Presseau  1   2 , Sarah A Walls  1 , Nichole Murray-Swank  3   4 , Galina A Portnoy  1   2 , Suzanne E Decker  1   2 , Aimee Kroll-Desrosiers  5   6 , Steve Martino  1   2
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The Promise of a Retreat: Perspectives of U.S. Women Veterans and Interdisciplinary Experts on the Development of a Retreat-Based Suicide Prevention Program for Violence-Exposed Women Veterans

Candice Presseau et al. Violence Against Women. .

Abstract

To supplement the mental health programming offered to women veterans within the Veterans Health Administration, a retreat-based suicide prevention program could foster healing through social connection and holistic health. However, no study has investigated retreat-based suicide prevention program components relevant for violence-exposed women veterans. To address this gap, we conducted focus groups with women veterans and semi-structured interviews with interdisciplinary subject matter experts to examine perceptions, beliefs, concerns, and preferences related to a retreat-based suicide prevention program for women veterans. Emergent themes included interest and appeal, concerns about program execution, and program preferences. Findings suggest that both women veterans and experts agree that a retreat-based suicide prevention program for women veterans is a promising and welcomed prevention strategy that may reduce suicide risk. Both interest groups emphasized that programming should be trauma-informed with training for program facilitators and attention to group dynamics.

Keywords: connection; retreat programming; suicide prevention; trauma-informed; women veterans.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Conflicting InterestsThe authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

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