From Hospitals to Mental Health Care - Innovative Continuity-of-Care Programs to Reduce Adult Suicidality

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Mental Health Services Research
• Suicidology

Background:

• A 2018 federal grant funded immediate mental health services for adults (25+) experiencing suicidal ideation or attempts.
• Services were delivered in emergency departments (EDs) and inpatient psychiatric units (IPUs) by trained suicide prevention professionals.
• The program eliminated the need for patient self-referral, ensuring continuity of care.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the effectiveness of an integrated mental health service model.
• To assess reductions in suicide attempts, IPU hospitalizations, ED visits, and suicidal ideation.
• To determine the impact of the program across diverse demographic groups.

Main Methods:

• A repeated-measures design was employed to track changes in key outcome variables.
• Data were collected at program intake and again at three months post-intake.
• Participant outcomes were analyzed irrespective of age, gender identity, race, referral source, or provider.

Main Results:

• Significant reductions were observed across all measured outcome variables: suicide attempts, IPU hospitalizations, ED visits, and suicidal ideation.
• These improvements were consistent across all demographic subgroups analyzed.
• The continuity-of-care model demonstrated high effectiveness.

Conclusions:

• The integrated mental health service model effectively reduces suicidal behaviors and psychiatric service utilization.
• Findings support the replication of this continuity-of-care approach in other hospital systems.
• This intervention offers a promising strategy for suicide prevention in acute care settings.