Suicide Assessment and Prevention
Course #66442 -
- Participation Instructions
- Review the course material online or in print.
- Complete the course evaluation.
- Review your Transcript to view and print your Certificate of Completion. Your date of completion will be the date (Pacific Time) the course was electronically submitted for credit, with no exceptions. Partial credit is not available.
Suicide is a major preventable public health problem and cause of mortality. This course will review the major aspects of suicide assessment, management, and prevention, with a special focus on military veterans. Primary care contact may represent the last opportunity for intervention in the severely depressed suicidal patient, making the thorough comprehension of identification and treatment of depression and suicide risk imperative.
- INTRODUCTION
- EPIDEMIOLOGY OF SUICIDE
- PATHOPHYSIOLOGY OF SUICIDAL BEHAVIOR
- SUICIDE AND SPECIAL POPULATIONS
- RISK AND PROTECTIVE FACTORS FOR SUICIDE
- IMMINENT SUICIDE
- SUICIDE ATTEMPTS
- SCREENING AND ASSESSMENT OF SUICIDE RISK
- MANAGEMENT OF SUICIDAL PATIENTS
- SUICIDE PREVENTION
- SUICIDE SURVIVORS: TREATMENT AND RESOURCES
- CONCLUSION
- Works Cited
- Evidence-Based Practice Recommendations Citations
This introductory course is designed for psychologists who may identify persons at risk for suicide and intervene to prevent or manage suicidality.
The purpose of this course is to provide psychologists with an appreciation of the impact of depression and suicide on patient health as well as the skills necessary to identify and intervene for patients at risk for suicide.
Upon completion of this course, you should be able to:
- Review the epidemiology of suicide.
- Describe the impact of suicide in the treatment of special populations, including among military veterans.
- Identify risk and protective factors for suicide.
- Discuss warning signs of imminent suicide and the importance of lethal means.
- Evaluate tools available for the assessment and evaluation of suicide risk.
- Outline key components of an effective suicide prevention plan.
Mark Rose, BS, MA, LP, is a licensed psychologist in the State of Minnesota with a private consulting practice and a medical research analyst with a biomedical communications firm. Earlier healthcare technology assessment work led to medical device and pharmaceutical sector experience in new product development involving cancer ablative devices and pain therapeutics. Along with substantial experience in addiction research, Mr. Rose has contributed to the authorship of numerous papers on CNS, oncology, and other medical disorders. He is the lead author of papers published in peer-reviewed addiction, psychiatry, and pain medicine journals and has written books on prescription opioids and alcoholism published by the Hazelden Foundation. He also serves as an Expert Advisor and Expert Witness to law firms that represent disability claimants or criminal defendants on cases related to chronic pain, psychiatric/substance use disorders, and acute pharmacologic/toxicologic effects. Mr. Rose is on the Board of Directors of the Minneapolis-based International Institute of Anti-Aging Medicine and is a member of several professional organizations.
Contributing faculty, Mark Rose, BS, MA, LP, has disclosed no relevant financial relationship with any product manufacturer or service provider mentioned.
Margaret Donohue, PhD
The division planner has disclosed no relevant financial relationship with any product manufacturer or service provider mentioned.
Sarah Campbell
The Director of Development and Academic Affairs has disclosed no relevant financial relationship with any product manufacturer or service provider mentioned.
The purpose of NetCE is to provide challenging curricula to assist healthcare professionals to raise their levels of expertise while fulfilling their continuing education requirements, thereby improving the quality of healthcare.
Our contributing faculty members have taken care to ensure that the information and recommendations are accurate and compatible with the standards generally accepted at the time of publication. The publisher disclaims any liability, loss or damage incurred as a consequence, directly or indirectly, of the use and application of any of the contents. Participants are cautioned about the potential risk of using limited knowledge when integrating new techniques into practice.
It is the policy of NetCE not to accept commercial support. Furthermore, commercial interests are prohibited from distributing or providing access to this activity to learners.
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The role of implicit biases on healthcare outcomes has become a concern, as there is some evidence that implicit biases contribute to health disparities, professionals' attitudes toward and interactions with patients, quality of care, diagnoses, and treatment decisions. This may produce differences in help-seeking, diagnoses, and ultimately treatments and interventions. Implicit biases may also unwittingly produce professional behaviors, attitudes, and interactions that reduce patients' trust and comfort with their provider, leading to earlier termination of visits and/or reduced adherence and follow-up. Disadvantaged groups are marginalized in the healthcare system and vulnerable on multiple levels; health professionals' implicit biases can further exacerbate these existing disadvantages.
Interventions or strategies designed to reduce implicit bias may be categorized as change-based or control-based. Change-based interventions focus on reducing or changing cognitive associations underlying implicit biases. These interventions might include challenging stereotypes. Conversely, control-based interventions involve reducing the effects of the implicit bias on the individual's behaviors. These strategies include increasing awareness of biased thoughts and responses. The two types of interventions are not mutually exclusive and may be used synergistically.