Emergency Departments Identify and Support Veterans at Risk of Suicide, Enhancing Their Access to Outpatient Mental Health Services | AHRQ Innovations Exchange

Emergency Departments Identify and Support Veterans at Risk of Suicide, Enhancing Their Access to Outpatient Mental Health Services | AHRQ Innovations Exchange

Emergency Departments Identify and Support Veterans at Risk of Suicide, Enhancing Their Access to Outpatient Mental Health Services

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PDF  Print  E-mail Link Jump to: What They Did | Did It Work? | How They Did It | Adoption Considerations Snapshot Summary Through the Suicide Assessment and Follow-Up Engagement: Veteran Emergency Treatment (more commonly referred to as SAFE VET) initiative, emergency departments at Veterans Affairs hospitals identify veterans at risk of suicide who do not require immediate inpatient care and intervene to reduce that risk. An emergency department–based staff member develops a customized safety plan (known as the Safety Planning Intervention) to cope with suicidal urges, and then provides a structured followup intervention by telephone after discharge to assess current risk; review and revise the safety plan if necessary; enhance motivation to seek treatment; and promote connections to outpatient care and community-based support, including removing obstacles to accessing such care and support. The intervention has enhanced access to outpatient mental health services for veterans at risk of suicide and has generated positive feedback on acceptability and effectiveness from patients and emergency department–based clinicians. Ongoing research is more rigorously analyzing the program’s impact on key metrics, including suicide attempts. Evidence Rating (What is this?) Moderate: The evidence consists of comparisons of the number of outpatient mental health visits attended by participants during the 6-month period before and after receiving program services. Additional evidence includes post-implementation data on the proportion of participants accessing mental health services within 2 weeks and 6 months of their initial ED visit, along with feedback from patients and clinicians on their satisfaction with the program. begin do Developing Organizations U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs end do Date First Implemented 2009 The initial demonstration project ran from September 2009 until October 2012.begin pp Patient Population Vulnerable Populations > Mentally ill; Military/Dependents/Veteransend pp