Suicide Assessment Training Essay

Suicide Assessment Training Essay

• Suicide is the 10th leading cause of death, claiming more than twice as many lives each year as does homicide.
• On average, between 2001 and 2009, more than 33,000 Americans died each year as a result of suicide, which is more than 1 person every 15 minutes.
• More than 8 million adults report having serious thoughts of suicide in the past year, 2.5 million report making a suicide plan in the past year, and 1.1 million report a suicide attempt in the past year.Suicide Assessment Training Essay
• Almost 16 percent of students in grades 9 to 12 report having seriously considered suicide, and 7.8 percent report having attempted suicide one or more times in the past 12 months.

The above is from the 2012 National Strategy for Suicide Prevention from the SAMHSA website. In Kentucky, as of February 2016, it is now mandatory for every licensed counselor and social worker to have at least six hours of suicide assessment training. This is one of the ways that Kentucky is attempting to fit in the goals of the National Strategy. The discussion questions for this week are:
1 – In your chosen career path, what clientele might you have that would be impacted by suicide – noting the key facts above?
2 – What are some ways that you can be as prepared as possible when suicide is discussed? (i.e., either as your individual client with thoughts, plans, or attempts, or in working with families who may be dealing with a suicide?)

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QUESTION 2.

An eleven year old boy, John, was overheard by the recess teacher telling a peer during recess, “I don’t want to be here anymore.” This was reported to the school counselor.Suicide Assessment Training Essay
Background history: John’s parents separated three months ago but each parent continues to come to school events. John lives mostly with his mother, eight year old sister, and mother’s current boyfriend. John’s 18 year old brother began college three months ago and has not been home to visit.Suicide Assessment Training Essay
The day following the recess disclosure, John’s mother met with the school counselor and told her that John’s grandfather attempted to kill himself in a nursing home last year and had had a discussion with John about how life wasn’t worth living anymore. John’s mother also reported that she suspects her son has not been swallowing his Ritalin tablets but is hoarding them.

Drawing on competency and skill-based learning modalities, this course targets multidisciplinary health professionals who work in suicide assessment, management, and prevention. The competencies are derived from contemporary theory, research and expert guidelines concerning suicide prevention. The course utilizes a variety of learning strategies including, but not limited to, journal article readings, guided lecture, self-assessment and self-reflection tools, and case examples for the learner to practice many competencies.

Mental health and public health efforts in suicide prevention have moved toward mastery of specific competencies.  A body of medical and psychological literature (e.g., American Association of Musicology, 2010; Hung, Binder, Ford wood, Hall, Cramer, & McNiel, 2012; Joiner, 2005; Klee spies, Hough, & Romeo, 2009; Liebling-Boccio & Jennings, 2013; Rudd, Cuckrowicz, & Bryan, 2008; Sullivan & Bongar, 2009) has articulated specific suicide-related competencies, streamlined into a framework of the following 10 specific competencies: Suicide Assessment Training Essay

• Recognizing attitudes and reactions toward suicide when with a client
• Developing and maintaining a collaborative, empathic stand toward the client
• Eliciting evidence-based risk and protective factors
• Focusing on the current plan and intent of suicidal ideation
• Determining chronic and imminent risk levels
• Collaboratively enacting an evidence-based treatment plan
• Involving appropriate social support
• Documenting risk, plan and clinical reasoning
• Knowing the law concerning suicide
• Engaging in debriefing and self-care

Participants discuss suicide prevention knowledge, improved suicide prevention-related attitudes, enhanced self-perceived competency, and improved objectively-rated performance (Cramer, Bryson, Eichorst, Keyes, & Ridge, in press; Cramer, Bryson, Stroud, & Ridge, in press).  This  course also addresses three primary additions in order to enhance the potential impact: (1) evidence-based public health approaches to suicide prevention are covered as an additional general core competency, (2) a sample high-risk setting (i.e., corrections) is addressed in terms of identification of setting-specific competencies that may augment the general core competencies, and (3) a sample high-risk population (i.e., lesbian, gay, and bisexual [LGB] persons) is addressed to provide the learner an example of population-specific tailoring of some general core competencies.Suicide Assessment Training Essay

Intended Audience

This training program is for School Health Professionals: nurses, counselor, psychologists, social workers and other allied health professionals who identify, screen and refer at-risk persons for further assessment and care. This course is offered as an extended version of the QPR Gatekeeper Training program me expanded to include information on youth suicide prevention and intervention. This course is also available at the advanced level to include suicide risk assessment and triage training. Tailored course content specific to youth suicide intervention include: child and adolescent mental health, cognitive and emotional development, suicide contagion, self-harm, suicide and social media, etc.

This course should be useful to all social workers, psychologists, nurses, counselors, and teachers who may find themselves in the role of identifying and assisting troubled youth.

Primary Care: Doctors, Nurses, Medical Specialists and Allied Health Professionals

Because of the uniquely confidential and personal nature of the physician-patient relationship, people often disclose information to their physicians that they would not disclose to anyone else including thoughts of suicide. Not surprisingly, many patients who complete suicide have consulted a medical practitioner or health care provider in the weeks before their death. For this reason, it is essential that physicians, nurses, and primary care practitioners become familiar with suicide risk assessment and management techniques. Given the challenges our health care and mental health care systems face, Primary Care practitioners are increasingly on the front lines of suicide prevention, challenged with the detection, assessment and management of suicidal patients.

Learn to routinely screen for suicide risk and how to conduct a brief best practice assessment. Includes QPR Gatekeeper Training for Suicide Prevention Suicide Assessment Training Essay

Law Enforcement

Law enforcement professionals are at the front line in New Zealand – as they are globally – and provide an essential link in suicide prevention and intervention efforts. QPR training teaches law enforcement professionals what you need to know to protect those at risk in the community as well as  co-workers, friends, family.

QPR Gatekeeper training provides vital foundational suicide prevention skills.   QPR Advanced Suicide Risk Management and Triage Training includes training in a systematic and evidence-based process for determining level of risk in order to determine the level of intervention required.

Corrections

Correctional professionals have a high degree of contact with those at elevated risk of suicide, especially mentally ill offenders, those arrested for the first time, as well as those facing sentencing whether in jail or on probation. This evidence-based course teaches both students and working professionals how to mitigate the risk of suicide attempts and completions both in and out of correctional facilities.Suicide Assessment Training Essay

Mental Health and Addictions Professionals

Many mental health and addictions professionals are not experts in clinical Suicidology, yet assess and treat suicidal clients on a daily basis. This course is designed for clinicians who need practical, evidence-based, best practice interventions for helping the suicidal patients they treat. This training program provides ready-to-use, hands-on interventions and counseling strategies known to be effective in reducing the risk of suicide attempts or completions.

QPR Suicide Assessment and Risk Management training is designed for mental health and addictions professionals who are responsible for the assessment, management and care of potentially suicidal clients. This course includes advanced level skills on how to interview potentially suicidal clients, determine immediate risk of suicide, and initiate a risk reduction and safety plan into an outpatient treatment plan. Training is available online or face-to-face and is designed to reduce mental health consumer morbidity and mortality by training clinical providers how to conduct and document a standardized best practice suicide risk assessment.

This advanced level training includes instruction in the use of an evidence-based triage process for determining level of risk in order to determine the level of intervention required.Suicide Assessment Training Essay