Collaboration and cooperation systems to prevent suicide among children in Japan: effective use of the Observe-Orient-Decide-Act loop

This study investigates the use of the Observe-Orient-Decide-Act (OODA) loop to improve collaboration between schools and medical/welfare services in preventing child suicide in Japan. A questionnaire survey of 171 teachers, nurses, welfare professionals, and school counselors revealed that those dissatisfied with current collaboration had poorer self-rated health, despite similar depressive symptom levels. Three factors emerged regarding attitudes toward the OODA loop: flexible situational assessment, group monitoring, and self-monitoring. Dissatisfied participants scored lower on all three. Analysis of free-text responses identified three categories of reasons for satisfaction/dissatisfaction: collaboration details, methods, and organization. The study concludes that raising OODA awareness, creating organizational structures, and establishing collaborative systems are crucial for suicide prevention.

Michiyo Okada, Takeshi Suzue, Harumi Katayama, Yoshihiro Nakadoi, Ai Fujikawa