Outpatient Treatment Contracts in Suicide Attempters (IN: Suicide Attempts in the Nordic Countries: Epidemiology and Treatment, edited by T Bjerke & T C Stiles)

In this paper, the authors present an outpatient treatment contract model used in the treatment of suicide attempters. Patients who participated in the contract aftercare model were compared to those patients who did not receive this treatment. The study was carried out by the Lund (Sweden) Suicide Research team. Patients who were discharged from the suicide research ward, 1988-1990, made up the study sample. Preliminary results suggest treatment contracting is a useful strategy for some subgroups of suicide attempters. (40 refs.)