Suicide Risk Assessment Training Research Articles

Improving Skills and Knowledge: Adapting a Core Competencies Suicide Risk Assessment Training Program to Support Mental Health Professionals in Hungary

Introduction Competency and skill-based education and assessment have become increasingly significant in mental health professional training. The conventional approach of acquiring knowledge is now being supplemented by emphasizing practical skills and implementing best practices that prove effective in the field. This emphasis on competencies is particularly apparent in the instruction regarding suicide risk evaluation and management. Cramer and colleagues have identified ten core competencies essential for working with patients at risk of suicide and developed a training material (Cramer et al. 2013, Train. Educ. Prof. Psychol; 1 1-11).Objectives We aim to tailor Cramer et al.’s training program to the Hungarian setting and assess its efficacy among mental health experts, including psychiatrists, clinical psychologists, and social workers. Additionally, we aim to validate the Suicide Prevention and Assessment - Competency Assessment Form (SCAF-R), which comprises a ten-item survey to measure the ten core competencies’ levels with Likert scales and textual ratings by observers. Through this training program, we aim to offer mental health professionals an educational framework to enhance their skills in evaluating and managing suicide risk. Our goal is to provide a comprehensive approach to suicide risk assessment and better equip professionals to handle this emotionally difficult clinical task.Methods We have created a Hungarian version of the core competencies training material tailored to the culture. We are assessing changes in attitudes towards suicide behavior and prevention by administering pre- and post-training psychometric measures, such as Willingness to Intervene against Suicide (WISE), Suicide Behavior Attitude Questionnaire (SBAQ), Attitudes Toward Suicide Prevention Scale (ASP), and Suicide Competency Assessment Form - Revised (SCAF-R). A quantitative analysis will be performed on the responses. The research was approved by Péterfy Hospital’s Institutional Review Board (IRB): approval number 07-2023.ResultsThe questionnaires’ results will be summarized with standard statistical methods.ConclusionsImproving mental health education in healthcare with up-to-date knowledge of evidence-based best practices is a top priority. Enhancing skills and knowledge can lower clinicians’ anxiety in this emotionally challenging and burdensome task. There is a high demand for mental health workshop training among healthcare workers in both undergraduate and post-graduate education. We expect positive changes in attitude and self-perceived competencies in participants.Disclosure of InterestNone Declared

Quantitative content analysis of Freedom of Information requests examining the extent and variations of tools and training for conducting suicide risk assessments in NHS Trusts across England

ObjectivesDetermining the risk for suicide is a difficult endeavour. Clinical guidance in the UK explicitly advises against using risk assessment tools and scales to determine suicide risk. Based on Freedom...

Virtual Reality Simulation for Suicide Risk Assessment Training: Prevalence of Adverse Effects.

Virtual reality (VR) simulation is changing the landscape of simulation-based medical education. Immersive VR allows users to interact with a computer-generated environment and digital avatars using a VR headset and controllers. However, current literature regarding the use of immersive VR simulation in psychiatric medical education is sparse. This study describes its use and considerations regarding tolerability. At a mental health hospital in Canada, two immersive VR suicide risk assessment (SRA) case simulations were developed. These simulations have participants interview VR patients to characterize their suicide risk, offering a novel and safe way to engage healthcare providers in SRA training. Regarding user tolerability of these VR simulations, the Simulator Sickness Questionnaire (SSQ) was administered to participants after the simulation to characterize any motion sickness symptoms experienced. Of the 22 participants in this study, the overall SSQ scores demonstrated good tolerability of the VR SRA, with the majority of participants reporting no or minimal simulator sickness symptoms. Moreover, the majority of participants reported being satisfied with this training and that the VR SRA simulation enhanced their learning experience. These study findings are novel, given the current dearth of data regarding the use of immersive VR in simulation-based psychiatric medical education. Further studies exploring the educational effectiveness of VR SRA in simulation-based psychiatric medical education are indicated.

Are they ready yet?: A theory‐driven evaluation of suicide risk assessment trainings in psychology graduate programs

The present study sought to understand the state of suicide risk assessment trainings in clinical psychology graduate programs. We surveyed 167 clinical psychology doctoral students' behavioral competency in responding to suicidal clients and their attitudes, perceived behavioral control, subjective norms, and intentions related to suicide risk assessment. Hypotheses were tested using path analysis. Ninety six percent of participants reported receiving some type of suicide risk assessment training at their program. Results provided partial support for significant relationships between attitudes, perceived behavioral control, subjective norms, and intentions. Unexpectedly, amount of training in suicide risk assessments was not related to theory of planned behavior variables including behavioral competency. These findings have implications regarding the effectiveness of current suicide risk assessment training practices and ways to improve trainings to help increase the number of clinical psychologists competent in suicide risk assessment and management.

Suicide risk assessment training using an online virtual patient simulation.

Improving the identification of and intervention with patients at risk for suicide requires innovative training techniques that safely and effectively teach or enhance practitioners' skills. Virtual patient simulations (VPS) can be particularly effective for this purpose because they allow for repetition in skill building as well as a safe space to practice difficult interactions with patients. The purpose of this study was to assess the feasibility and acceptability of a novel VPS that trains practitioners in suicide risk assessment, as well as to examine pre-post changes in suicide-related knowledge through a pilot of the VPS training. Practitioners (n=20) were recruited from a Federally Qualified Health Center in the northeastern United States to test the feasibility and acceptability of a VPS suicide risk assessment training. A paired samples t-test was conducted to compare mean differences in practitioners' suicide risk assessment knowledge scores from pre- to post-training, on a scale of 0 to 10. The VPS was feasible to implement, with 18 of 20 participants using the VPS for an average of 21 to 95 minutes, and was acceptable to participants, with an average satisfaction rating of 5.82 out of 7. Participants' knowledge scores improved significantly by an average of 1.86 points from pre- to post-training. The VPS was feasible and acceptable to this sample of practitioners and significantly increased knowledge from pre- to post-training. As such, VPS holds promise as a technique to develop skills in suicide risk assessment.

Examining the effects of role play practice in enhancing clinical skills to assess and manage suicide risk

Background: Mental health professionals (MHPs) often lack skills necessary to effectively manage suicide risk. Training designed to combat this deficiency tend to rely on passive techniques, despite research suggesting active methods may better facilitate skill development.Aim: This study examines the effect of a role-play training on MHPs’ attitudes, subjective norms and perceived behavioral control surrounding suicide risk assessment behaviors.Methods: Two hundred and three MHPs participated in a 4.5 hour role-play training after participation in an online suicide risk assessment training. The training utilized active learning and behavioral modification strategies. MHPs completed questionnaires assessing attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control and training variables.Results: MHPs endorsed positive attitudes, social norms and perceived behavioral control in suicide risk assessment and management skills, especially in assessing/determining the severity of risk, establishing rapport, documenting risk assessment information and developing a treatment plan. Results also revealed support for the feasibility of disseminating role-play training utilizing active learning methods.Conclusion: Factors found to be associated with participation in the role-play training are discussed. Findings may inform future development and improvement of suicide risk assessment training and practices that target risk and protective factors to effectively reduce suicide-related behavior.

SafeTALK suicide training: An evaluation of attitudes and actions among medical students

Background: SafeTALK is a half-day gatekeeper training program on recognizing persons at risk for suicide and intervening appropriately. Primary care clinicians have been increasingly targeted for suicide intervention training; however, evidence surrounding the effectiveness of safeTALK is lacking, particularly among medical learners. The aim of this study was to assess whether suicide literacy and intervention skills were enhanced by safeTALK training among medical learners.Methods: Undergraduate medical students from an Ontario university were invited to complete an online survey regardless if they had taken safeTALK training as part of their curriculum. Suicide literacy was measured with the Literacy of Suicide Scale (LOSS) and intervention skills were measured with the Suicide Intervention Response Inventory (SIRI).Results: The majority believed that suicide risk assessment training was very important to undergraduate medical education. Although limitations were noted, this study did not demonstrate that safeTALK training significantly improved medical students’ suicide literacy levels or suicide intervention skills.Conclusions: A more comprehensive program including the epidemiology of suicide and mental health disorders in addition to intervention skills is recommended to ensure medical learners are equipped to dispel the stigmas surrounding suicide and offer the appropriate care and follow up to their patients in future practice.

Assessment and management of suicide risk in primary care.

Risk assessment and management of suicidal patients is emphasized as a key component of care in specialist mental health services, but these issues are relatively unexplored in primary care services. To examine risk assessment and management in primary and secondary care in a clinical sample of individuals who were in contact with mental health services and died by suicide. Data collection from clinical proformas, case records, and semistructured face-to-face interviews with general practitioners. Primary and secondary care data were available for 198 of the 336 cases (59%). The overall agreement in the rating of risk between services was poor (overall κ = .127, p = .10). Depression, care setting (after discharge), suicidal ideation at last contact, and a history of self-harm were associated with a rating of higher risk. Suicide prevention policies were available in 25% of primary care practices, and 33% of staff received training in suicide risk assessments. Risk is difficult to predict, but the variation in risk assessment between professional groups may reflect poor communication. Further research is required to understand this. There appears to be a relative lack of suicide risk assessment training in primary care.

Field Note—Developing Suicide Risk Assessment Training for Hospital Social Workers: An Academic–Community Partnership

This article describes 1 large urban pediatric hospital's partnership with a university to provide suicide assessment and management training within its social work department. Social work administrators conducted a department-wide needs assessment and implemented a 2-session suicide assessment training program and evaluation. Respondents (97.8%) indicated that the training was either helpful or very helpful in 8 suicide assessment skill-based domains. All attendees reported positive changes in perceived competence in 6 of 8 skill-based domains. A brief and time-efficient in-service training can be instrumental in augmenting hospital social worker competence in suicide risk assessment practice. This model of training program development, implementation, and evaluation is feasible, evidence-informed, and may be replicated.

Online Adolescent Suicide Risk Assessment

OPEN ACCESSMarch 15, 2013Online Adolescent Suicide Risk Assessment Virginia Sue Biddle, MSN, PhD Virginia Sue Biddle, MSN, PhD Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University Google Scholar More articles by this author https://doi.org/10.15766/mep_2374-8265.9352 SectionsAbout ToolsDownload Citations ShareFacebookTwitterEmail AbstractAbstractThis web-based suicide risk assessment training module is geared towards primary care providers and other clinicians who want to identify youth at risk for suicide in their practices. The program focuses on the assessment of background and subjective risk factors using the well-known Home, Education, Activities, Drug use and abuse, Sexual behavior, and Suicidality (HEADSS) interview instrument for psychosocial risk assessment. It is designed for providers who need basic knowledge concerning suicide risk assessment. Review questions that users must answer are displayed periodically throughout the module. These questions reinforce the content and help users assess their learning.A pilot study was conducted to test the effectiveness of the program in increasing the knowledge of 26 graduate nurse practitioner and nurse midwife students in assessing adolescents for suicide risk. A pre-and posttest design and statistical analysis using a paired t-test (to test the difference between mean scores for the pretest and posttest) were employed to determine the effectiveness of the training program. Pre- and posttest questions from videotaped vignettes were grouped into the following subscales: setting the stage, psychosocial assessment, depression assessment, triage, recognition, and intervention. Using an alpha level of .05, the paired t-tests for each subscale, as well as all subscales combined, were statistically significant. The results indicated that student knowledge regarding assessing adolescents for suicide risk increased at a statistically significant level after participating in the training.The online suicide risk assessment training has been completed by 201 pediatric nurse practitioners or other advanced practice nurses via the Web site of the National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners. They rated the program 4.5 or higher on a 5-point Likert scale for meeting each educational objective and their own expectations, as well as for appropriateness of content, and their ability to integrate concepts learned into clinical practice. All scores improved from the pretest to the posttest. Of the 29 participants who were willing to be surveyed at a later date, all indicated that they made changes to their clinical practice after the training. Eighty-five percent reported that they made at least four changes and 15% reported that they made at least one change.The significance of the program is that it provides students and clinicians with a way to learn basic suicide risk assessment in an online format, enables them to apply knowledge gained to clinical scenarios via videotaped vignettes, and allows them to assess their knowledge before and after the training. Educational Objectives By the end of this module, learners will be able to: Explain the role of clinicians in the prevention of suicide.State the prevalence of youth suicide.Explain why youth suicide occurs.Set the stage for an adolescent interview.Assess adolescents for suicide risk by inquiring about background risk factors (using the Home, Education, Activities, Drug use and abuse, Sexual behavior, and Suicidality interview) and subjective risk factors.Refer adolescents at risk for suicide for the appropriate level of care.Identify possible treatments and measures of success.Assess family needs, strengths, resource, and supports. Sign up for the latest publications from MedEdPORTAL Add your email below FILES INCLUDEDReferencesRelatedDetails FILES INCLUDED Included in this publication: Instructor's Guide.doc PandPTestUpdate.doc scenario1.jpg scenario2.jpg ASRA Content Folder Video Players Folder To view all publication components, extract (i.e., unzip) them from the downloaded .zip file. Download editor’s noteThis publication may contain technology or a display format that is no longer in use. Copyright & Permissions© 2013 Biddle. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivatives license.KeywordsYouthSuicideRiskHEADSS Disclosures None to report. Funding/Support None to report. Loading ...

Suicide risk assessment training for psychology doctoral programs: Core competencies and a framework for training.

Clinical and counseling psychology programs currently lack adequate evidence-based competency goals and training in suicide risk assessment. To begin to address this problem, this article proposes core competencies and an integrated training framework that can form the basis for training and research in this area. First, we evaluate the extent to which current training is effective in preparing trainees for suicide risk assessment. Within this discussion, sample and methodological issues are reviewed. Second, as an extension of these methodological training issues, we integrate empirically- and expert-derived suicide risk assessment competencies from several sources with the goal of streamlining core competencies for training purposes. Finally, a framework for suicide risk assessment training is outlined. The approach employs Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) methodology, an approach commonly utilized in medical competency training. The training modality also proposes the Suicide Competency Assessment Form (SCAF), a training tool evaluating self- and observer-ratings of trainee core competencies. The training framework and SCAF are ripe for empirical evaluation and potential training implementation.

Effects of a Late‐Life Suicide Risk–Assessment Training on Multidisciplinary Healthcare Providers

Older adults are among the highest at risk for completing suicide, and they are more likely to seek mental health services from providers outside of traditional mental health care, but providers across the spectrum of care have limited training in suicide risk assessment and management and particularly lack training in suicide prevention for older adults. An educational program was developed to increase awareness and improve suicide risk assessment and management training for a range of healthcare providers who may see older adults in their care settings. One hundred thirty-two participants from two Veterans Affairs Medical Centers participated in a 6.5-hour-long workshop in the assessment and management of suicide risk in older adults. Participants were asked to complete pre- and postworkshop case notes and report on subjective changes in knowledge, attitudes, and confidence in assessment and managing suicide risk in older adults. Participants included social workers, nurses, physicians, psychologists, and occupational therapists from a variety of care settings, including outpatient and inpatient medical, outpatient and inpatient mental health, specialty clinics, home, and community. After the workshop, participants demonstrated improvement in the overall quality of case notes (P = .001), greater ability to recognize important conceptual suicide risk categories (P = .003), and reported heightened awareness of the importance of late-life suicide. The results suggest that educational training may have beneficial effect on the ability of multidisciplinary care providers to identify and manage suicide risk in elderly adults.