The NPR (7/11, Chatterjee) “Shots” blog reports that following a suicide attempt, “a simple intervention conducted by staff in emergency departments can reduce the risk of future suicide attempts,” research indicates. This “intervention involves creating a safety plan for each patient and following up with phone calls after discharge.” Included in the study of the Safety Planning Intervention were “1,200 patients at five Veterans Affairs hospitals around the” US.
Healio (7/11, Demko) reports, “Adults who received the intervention plus follow-up were less likely to engage in suicidal behavior compared with those who received usual care during six-month follow-up,” the study revealed. What’s more, “patients receiving the intervention had more than two times the odds of attending at least one outpatient mental health visit.” The findings were published online July 11 in JAMA Psychiatry. Also covering the story are MedPage Today (7/11, Smith) and MD Magazine (7/11, Hoffman).
Related Links:
— “A Simple Emergency Room Intervention Can Help Cut Suicide Risk, “Rhitu Chatterjee, NPR, July 11, 2018.