Page 4 - Demo

Cover Story |
Risk screenings create
new opportunities to prevent suicide
Suicide is the second-leading cause of death for Americans ages 15-34, though its rate is highest in middle-aged and older men. Nationally, the suicide rate rose by 24 percent between 1999 and 2014.
Using a validated screening tool, Christiana Care is expanding its ability to reach those at risk for suicide and offer them services based on their needs.
In the past year, virtually everyone
brought to a Christiana Care Emergency Department, or 92 percent, has been screened for suicide risk. This population- health approach has put services in reach for thousands of people who may otherwise have struggled alone.
For the five-month period beginning in
May 2017, 3.5 percent of Emergency Department patients, or about 3,200 people, were identified as having some risk of suicide.
When a risk is identified, health care professionals can provide an effective response tailored to the patient’s needs.
“The tool helps us screen patients, but then we need to use our expert social providers to perform further assessments and develop
a safety plan,” said Linda Lang, M.D., chair of the Department of Psychiatry and physician leader of the Behavioral Health Service Line.
A 2014 study in the journal Current Psychiatry Reports found that 45 percent of people who die by suicide saw a primary care provider in the month before their death, and 20 percent saw a mental health professional in that period.
For Deanna Corcoran, a Christiana Care employee and a member
of Christiana Care's Patient and Family Advisory Council, these
statistics are deeply personal. She lost her brother to suicide in October. He had high blood pressure and was seeing a doctor regularly before his suicide, which came after a long struggle with alcoholism.
“I think if the right questions had been asked, even the tiniest of red flags would have been raised,” Corcoran said.
“Sometimes, all it takes is somebody outside paying attention, showing care and steering someone to get the help they need.”
The screening tool used by Christiana Care, called the Columbia Suicide Severity Rating Scale, starts with two questions:
Have you wished you were dead or wished you could go to sleep and not wake up?
Have you actually had any thoughts of killing yourself?
If the answer to either question is “yes,”
the survey continues with four more questions. Though suicide is most often linked with depression, the screening tool also identifies risk that arises from other causes. People who’ve recently experienced traumatic stress, such as the loss of a job or the death of a family member, and those with serious medical conditions who may feel as if they are a burden to others, can be at an increased risk for suicide.
That was the case for Corcoran’s brother, whose suicide appears to have been precipitated by a relapse.
“He was quite upset about having gotten a DUI but was finally getting the help it was so hard for him to ask for,” Corcoran said. “He seemed to be doing very well.”
CONTINUED
Deanna Corcoran, a member of Christiana Care’s Patient and Family Advisory Council, lost her brother to suicide in October. She is glad that Christiana Care’s work to prevent suicide is creating new opportunities to help people tackling the challenges her brother faced.
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