Resource Tag: INSTITUTIONS

The purpose of this survey of southwest Alberta was to improve access to & availability of appropriate services for vulnerable persons. The survey was designed to measure how the Suicide Prevention Program for southwest Alberta is viewed & to what extent it is known. 168 agencies were surveyed (from a list of agencies surveyed by […]

The research plans of the Department of Mental Health of the National Public Health Institute in Finland are outlined. Study areas will include: 1) specific questions about suicide using the database, “Suicide in Finland in 1987”; 2) risk factors for repetition or subsequent completed suicide in Finland & other European centres; 3) following up a […]

The author was Director of Nursing at an addiction treatment center when a patient committed suicide. This article recounts the nightmare of a malpractice lawsuit. It took more than 2 years to go to trial. Individuals named as defendants were exonerated. Lessons learned: accurate, complete & timely charting is crucial: a multidiscplinary approach is important; […]

This presentation notes that confinement is not everywhere equally suicidgenic, & that the types of people that find themsleves confined do not represent uniformly high risk groups. The range of risk matters for individual clinical prediction, for social policy decisions, & for understanding the respective contributions of place, person, & opportunity, in precipitating suicidal crisis. […]

This chapter characterizes moral theory & discusses classical approaches to understanding euthanasia. Concepts of professionalism & professional obligations are analyzed & discusses in relation to 4 medical settings (emergency room, nursing home, burn unit, & neonatal intensive care). Quality of life issues are discussed with reference to infants & euthanasia, brain death & irreversible coma, […]

A model of resource use, using data from 33 institutions for mental diseases, was tested. The model posits average cost per patient as a function of facility size, average occupancy, hourly wages for staff, client age distribution, client gender, length of stay, client history with criminal justice system, level of client confusion, suicidal tendencies among […]

This study examined information from approxiamtely 500 long-term care facilities about suicides, attempted suicides, & other self destructive behaviors. The authors found that males, whites, & those who were depressed and/or had recently experienced a loss are particularly susceptible to self destructive behaviors. They also assert that noting abnormal behaviors such as refusing to eat […]

This U.S. study represents the first large-scale national study of patterns of suicidal behaviour in long-term facilities for the elderly. 463 questionnaires that included items on the facility, staff & residents, number of overt suicides, attempts, incidents of indirect life-threatening behaviour(refusing medication, self-mutilation) were returned. 294 of 30,269 residents engaged in suicidal behaviour during 1984-85. […]

This chapter focuses on the multiple factors that increase the vulnerability of particular subgroups in the older population to suicide. Vulnerability resulting from demographic group membership as well as psychosocial factors such as depression & alcoholism, loneliness & social isolation, bereavement & widowhood, & the impact of terminal illness will be examined. The chapter will […]

This brief article presents highlights from the 1st national study of suicide in long-term care facilities conducted in the U.S. Questionnaires mailed to a random sample of 1080 LTC facilities yielded responses from 463, representing a patient population of 30,269. 1% had engaged in some form of suicidal behavior. The suicide rate for these residents […]

This anecdotal case history describes the hospitalization & attempted rehabilitation of a young woman with a history of drug abuse & depression. The treatment policy is reviewed & information about her drug therapy is provided. In spite of treatment, the young woman runs in front of a bus & is killed. (LH)

A study of 15 crisis admission units & emergency psychiatric services in Europe & the United Kingdom is described. The report includes objectives & methods, aspects of the historical development of ideas & methods, & (briefly) contemporary crisis theory & practice. Emphasis is on describing the units, which were visited in 1977, followed by summary […]

This brief report describes suicide prevention strategies in the U.S.S.R. The discussion includes the structure of the service, statistics, & principal pathways in prevention. (LH)

Presents an exploration of suicide & attempted suicide in institutions where inmates are deprived of their freedom against their will (e.g. prisons & jails, mental hospitals). Diekstra’s theory of necessary & sufficient conditions leading to suicide is applied to such institutional settings, & recommendations for further development are given. 15 refs. (LH)

Since the question of whether suicidal persons are mentally ill cannot be answered categorically, suicidologists have focussed on other relevant questions. It has been found that the suicide rate is higher among those hospitalized for mental illness & is highest among manic-depressive psychotics. Generally, neurotics attempt suicide while psychotics complete suicide. 12 Refs. (LH)

Several recent court cases have begun to create a new liability standard whereby a tragic outcome is considered the result of failure to apply appropriate professional/clinical judgement. These cases are discussed & recommendations for managing the risks of psychiatric decision making are made, including extensive patient histories, previous records, clinical documentation & consultation. Reforms for […]

Discusses the legal intervention of a 27 year old male with paranoid schizophrenia who, subsequent to reading his chart & a decision to keep him confined, completed suicide. The Mental Health Act of Ontario states that a patient who is confined against his will is entitled to examine his medical records. A modification to this […]

This paper is both an account and an interpretation of the volunteer services program in Minnesota during the period 1949 to the present, more specifically, the decade 1952-1962.