Continuity of care for suicide prevention and research: Suicide attempts and suicide deaths subsequent to discharge from the emergency department or psychiatry inpatient unit
SOURCE: Knesper, D. J. (2010). Continuity of care for suicide prevention and research: Suicide attempts and suicide deaths subsequent to discharge from the emergency department or psychiatry inpatient unit. Newton, MA, Education Development Center, Inc.
THIS is a comprehensive report offering recommendations for the ongoing care of patients at risk for suicide who have been treated in emergency departments and hospitals. Based on an encyclopedic review and analysis of existing research, the 150-page report was authored by David Knesper, M.D., Department of Psychiatry, University of Michigan, and is the first review of continuity of care as a means to prevent suicide. The report includes ten principles for improved continuity of care, and provides real-world examples of seven integrated systems of care in the U.S. and Europe. Other key recommendations for practice and research address: targeting high-risk individuals; improving education and training for suicide risk assessment; responding to patients who have become disengaged from treatment; coordinating care; and improving infrastructure to provide continuity of care.