Abstract
Background: In 2016, the Gold Coast Mental Health and Specialist Services (GCMHSS) implemented a Suicide Prevention Strategy, a key component of which was a clinical Suicide Prevention Pathway (SPP).
Objectives: An outcomes evaluation was undertaken with the objective of assessing whether repeated presentations to the emergency department (ED) after a suicide attempt were reduced for those on the SPP.
Methods: Suicidal presentations to GCMHSS EDs were assessed using World Health Organization (WHO) criteria, and the Consumer Integrated Mental Health Application (CIMHA) database to characterize type of self-harm and the number of re-presentations to ED. This outcome measure was compared between consumers who went on the SPP against those who did not, for the months of June–December 2017.
Findings: The percentage of index suicide attempt presentations to ED, followed by further suicide attempts, was lower for those who went on the SPP compared those consumers who did not, 7, 14, 30 and 90 days after index presentation.
Conclusions: Preliminary data suggest a reduction in subsequent ED representations for those consumers engaging in the SPP. Implications and limitations of the data are discussed and the next steps in outcomes evaluation are presented.
Objectives: An outcomes evaluation was undertaken with the objective of assessing whether repeated presentations to the emergency department (ED) after a suicide attempt were reduced for those on the SPP.
Methods: Suicidal presentations to GCMHSS EDs were assessed using World Health Organization (WHO) criteria, and the Consumer Integrated Mental Health Application (CIMHA) database to characterize type of self-harm and the number of re-presentations to ED. This outcome measure was compared between consumers who went on the SPP against those who did not, for the months of June–December 2017.
Findings: The percentage of index suicide attempt presentations to ED, followed by further suicide attempts, was lower for those who went on the SPP compared those consumers who did not, 7, 14, 30 and 90 days after index presentation.
Conclusions: Preliminary data suggest a reduction in subsequent ED representations for those consumers engaging in the SPP. Implications and limitations of the data are discussed and the next steps in outcomes evaluation are presented.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 54-55 |
| Number of pages | 2 |
| Journal | Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry |
| Volume | 53 |
| Issue number | S1 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Apr 2019 |
