Compliance standards pave the way for reducing suicide in health care systems

Suicide is the tenth leading cause of death in the United States and is increasing in almost every state, despite rates falling globally. Often overlooked, health care systems and providers play an important and necessary role in reducing suicides. The myth has been that health care is not in a position to make a difference because […]

Recommended standard care for people with suicide risk: Making health care suicide safe.

This guide has been produced by health care and suicide prevention experts working with the National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention (Action Alliance). The information is for health care organizations that wish to better identify and support people who are at increased risk of suicide and for advocates who will work with hospitals and clinics to […]

2017 CARF standards manual supplement for comprehensive suicide prevention programs: July 1, 2017-June 30, 2018.

For surveys between July 1, 2017 and June 30, 2018. This supplement is intended to be used in conjunction with the 2017 Behavioral Health Standards Manual and contains standards and survey preparation questions applicable for comprehensive suicide prevention programs.

20 questions for the CEO.

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Risk management with suicidal patients.

The patient who is at-risk for suicide is complex and is difficult to evaluate and treat effectively. Should suicidal behavior occur, the clinician faces the potential wrath of bereaved survivors and their externalized blame exercised through a malpractice suit.

Suicide: Rationality and responsibility for life.

There is much debate about whether suicide can ever be rational. Designating suicide as an undesirable event that should never occur raises the debate of who is responsible for one’s life and runs the risk of erroneously attributing blame for suicide. While upholding patient rights of autonomy in psychiatric care is laudable, cases of suicidality […]

Make Suicide Prevention Everyone’s Business. Suicide & Self Harm Prevention: Effective Practice Guidelines

This guideline from Northern Ireland has 5 chapters: 1) essential facts & information on suicide, self-harm, & prevention; 2) models of good practice; 3) look after yourself & others – a directory of useful contacts for the Northern area; 4) current training programs; & 5) useful references & publications. The information in the guideline is […]

Suicide Prevention Priorities 2011

In this proposal, the Irish Association of Suicidology has set key priorities in relation to suicide & deliberate self-harm prevention, including: providing training to agencies working with people who are unemployed &/or experiencing financial hardship; guidelines for assessment & aftercare of deliberate self-harm presentations to emergency departments; expanding the Suicide Support & Information System; accreditation […]

Addressing Suicidal Thoughts and Behaviors in Substance Abuse Treatment Treatment Improvement Protocol (TIP) Series 50, HHS Publication No. (SMA) 09-4381

Part 1 of this protocol is for substance abuse counsellors & has 2 chapters on working with clients with substance use disorders who have suicidal thoughts &/or behaviours. Part 2 is for program administrators & also has 2 chapters. Chapter 1 lay outs the rationale for the second chapter & helps administrators understand how they […]

Preventing Suicide in French Prisons

This paper shows that preventing suicide risk in French prison regulations is thwarted in 2 prisons by professional criteria regarding credibility & solidarity, as well as by the balance of power between prisoners & guards, in addition to the realization, on the part of judges responsible for sentencing, of the risk posed by recidivists. The […]

Psychiatry Behind Bars: Practicing in Jails and Prisons

This article explains correctional facilities’ obligation to provide for inmates’ mental health needs & describes correctional mental health processes & how psychiatrists can play a role in screening, evaluation, & suicide prevention. (12 refs.) JA Contact us for a copy of this article, or view online at http://www.antoniocasella.eu/archipsy/Burns_2011.pdf

The Effect of Participating in Suicide Research: Does Participating in a Research Protocol on Suicide and Psychiatric Symptoms Increase Suicide Ideation and Attempts?

The effect of engaging in an intensive research protocol that inquired extensively about psychiatric & suicide symptoms & explosed participants to a number of images, including suicide-related content, was explored. Individuals experiencing a major depressive episode were called at 1- & 3-months after the initial protocol. Partipants reported experiencing reductions in suicide ideation at the […]

Care of the Suicidal Person

This book is based on a 3-year qualitative study that investigated how psychiatric nurses provided care for suicidal people. Drawing on service user data, this book contains & explains an evidence-based theory of how to care for suicidal people. In addition to tracing the role of nurses, the authors use their findings to launch into […]

Counselling Suicidal Clients

This book is written for counsellors & psychotherapists, & for any professional who uses counselling skills when supporting suicidal people. It has 6 main parts: the changing context of suicide; the prediction-prevention model, policy, & ethics; the influence of the organization; the client process; the practitioner process; & the practice of counselling with suicidal clients. […]

Degree of Proof Necessary to Establish Proximate Causation of Suicide

This article discusses the case of Thompson versus Patton in which the Supreme Court of Alabama reviewed the trial court’s decision to grant a motion for summary judgment in favour of the defendant in a malpractice suit alleging negligence by a psychiatrist who discharged a patient from the hospital 3 days before the patient’s suicide. […]

The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Employee Assistance Program Response to Suicide (In: Suicide and Law Enforcement, edited by D C Sheehan & J I Warren)

The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s internal employee assistance program has a proactive approach to suicide prevention & response, including a standard of care & a suicide response protocol. Factors that contribute to the suicide of an agent include depression, posttraumatic stress disorder, frustration, firearms, & management response. Suicide in the Federal Bureau of Investigation is […]

Easing the Legacy of Suicide (IN: Assessment, Treatment, and Prevention of Suicidal Behavior, edited by R I Yufit & D Lester)

The cathartic effect of a nonfatal suicide attempt has been noted & suicidal behaviour can be seen as a useful & helpful approach to crises. Suicidal behaviour may also be efficacious in changing the environment of an individual in a favourable way. In this chapter, the author goes further by viewing even death by suicide […]

Police Suicide: an Executive’s Perspective (In: Suicide and Law Enforcement, edited by D C Sheehan & J I Warren)

Over the last 20 years, as researchers, police administrations & psychologists have focused on police stress, much effort has dealt with its negative manifestations: heart attacks, cardiovascular disease, premature death, digestive disturbances, ulcers, divorce, & substance abuse. By its nature, police suicide has been the subject of particular interest. That police suicide is a concern […]

Helping College Students Cope With Suicidal Impulses (IN: Assessment, Treatment, and Prevention of Suicidal Behavior, edited by R I Yufit & D Lester)

This chapter opens by presenting data on the prevalence of suicide, suicide ideation, attempted suicide, other self-injurious behaviours, & stress among college & university students. Protective factors are discussed. The role of gatekeepers is outlined followed by an extensive discussion of assessment, intervention, & treatment, including psychological & pharmacological therapies. Involuntary hospitalization, practice recommendations, & […]

Identification and Monitoring of Suicide Risk in Primary Care Settings

In an attempt to reduce suicide rates, efforts have focussed on detection & management of suicidal patients in primary care settings, given that an estimated 45% of suicide victims see their physician in the month prior to their death. This article reviews recent literature & provides an overview of suicide risk factors & assessment of […]

Constructing Bridges of Support: School Counsellors’ Experiences of Student Suicide

Despite their important roles, there is litte research that explores the experiences of school counsellors who have lost clients to suicide. In this study, 7 school counsellors were individually interviewed, & data were analyzed using a basic interpretative qualitative method informed by grounded theory. Themes related to training & practice standards, support resources, & self-care […]

Accounting for Accountability: a Discourse Analysis of Psychiatric Nurses’ Experience of a Patient Suicide

This article explores how 2 psychiatric nurses construct & orient to accountability when talking of their experiences of a patient suicide. Discourse analysis was used to explore particular phrases that the nurses oriented to in their accounts: scene setting, risk assessment, attributing for the suicide. Findings highlight the different, sometimes contradictory, ways the nurses attended […]

Position Statement: Suicide and Self-Harm Among gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Communities

This position statement discusses suicide & self-harm in gay, lesbian, bisexual, & transgender communities in Australia. The discussion includes a review of the complexity & diversity within & between these communities; risk factors; heterosexism, homophobia & transphobia; high risk groups; a multidisciplinary approach to suicide & self-harm prevention; building community capacity for mental health promotion […]