Suicide is a major public health issue and the rate of suicide in America is increasing.  Current data from the CDC shows an increase in suicides of 24% between the years of 1999 and 2014.  Suicide is currently the 10th leading cause of death and claims more lives than traffic accidents and more than twice as many homicides.   

Current data suggest that providers often do not detect suicidal thoughts of individuals who eventually die by suicide, even though most of them receive health care services in year prior to their death.  Health care organizations need to better identify and treat individuals with suicidal ideation.   

This training will provide clinical social workers with information about suicide  ideation detection as well as screening, risk assessment, safety treatment, discharge and follow up care of at-risk individuals.  Also a discussion of suggested actions for educating all staff about suicide risk, keeping healthcare environments safe for individuals at risk for suicide, and documenting their care.  Finally, we will explore the current state of knowledge regarding evidence based and best clinical practice for suicide prevention, describe how the Zero Suicide model informs application of these practices to clinical training and practice. 

Objectives

After participating in this educational activity, attendees should be able to:

1. Describe why improving suicide care is urgently needed

2. Better identify and support patients who are at increased risk of suicide

3. Name several evidence based interventions to address suicide prevention within the hospital setting

Faculty

Kelley Crowley, MSW, LICSW
Director of Behavioral Health
Baystate Noble Hospital

Faculty Disclosure

None of the members of the faculty and planning committee for this educational event have commercial relationships with any entity producing, marketing, re-selling or distributing health care goods and services consumed by or used on patients.