Suicide and activism: a scoping review of qualitative literature

This review is being conducted as part of Discovering Liveability, a project funded by the Wellcome Trust (Grant number: 301673/Z/23/Z) Objective: The objective of this scoping review is to identify the available qualitative literature and explore the key research gaps related to activism and suicide. Introduction: Activism can play a vital role in shaping or challenging responses to suicide yet is under-examined and often overlooked in suicide prevention discourse. This review seeks to identify contemporary literature that addresses the different ways that activists contribute to/contest understandings of suicide mitigation and/or prevention. In addition, it will examine contemporary scholarship on suicide as activism and suicide prevention campaigns. Inclusion criteria: Peer-reviewed and non-peer-reviewed articles published between 2015 and 2025 will be eligible for inclusion in the review. Academic literature that has examined both suicide and activism, as well as suicide and campaigns, will be included. Peer-reviewed academic publications, as well as grey literature including dissertations and theses will be eligible for inclusion. Quantitative studies, reviews of literature, and grey literature such as organisational reports and policy documents will be excluded. Methods: Electronic searches of the IBSS, ProQuest, CINAHL and PsycINFO databases will be conducted to identify relevant literature. The reporting of the review will follow the guidelines of the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses Extension for Scoping Reviews. Results will be presented in tabular form, with an accompanying narrative synthesis.