scholarly journals Smartphone-Based Safety Planning and Self-Monitoring for Suicidal Patients: A Conceptual Basis for the CASPAR (Continuous Assessment for Suicide Prevention and Research) Study

Author(s):  
Chani Nuij ◽  
Wouter Van Ballegooijen ◽  
Jeroen Ruwaard ◽  
Derek de Beurs ◽  
Rory C. O'Connor ◽  
...  

Suicidal behaviour remains difficult to predict and prevent, even for experienced mental health care professionals. The known distal risk factors for suicidal behaviour are not sufficiently specific to fully understand the complex dynamic processes that precede a suicide attempt. Real-time mobile monitoring data can be used to analyse proximal risk mechanisms within the suicidal process. At the same time smartphone-based safety planning and self-monitoring may enhance a patient’s self-management skills thereby increasing their capacity to respond to a suicidal crisis and to become more aware of crisis symptoms. The current paper describes the theoretical and conceptual rationale for the CASPAR study which applies an innovative approach to the study of suicidal processes. It uses basic science approaches to inform the implementation of an innovative suicide prevention intervention. We aim to develop and implement mobile safety plan in conjunction with real-time monitoring in order to both directly implement suicide prevention interventions and to study the ongoing dynamics of individual suicidal behaviour by applying network analysis.

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-8
Author(s):  
Chani Nuij ◽  
Wouter van Ballegooijen ◽  
Derek de Beurs ◽  
Dilfa Juniar ◽  
Annette Erlangsen ◽  
...  

Background Safety planning-type interventions (SPTIs) for patients at risk of suicide are often used in clinical practice, but it is unclear whether these interventions are effective. Aims This article reports on a meta-analysis of studies that have evaluated the effectiveness of SPTIs in reducing suicidal behaviour and ideation. Method We searched Medline, EMBASE, PsycINFO, Web of Science and Scopus from their inception to 9 December 2019, for studies that compared an SPTI with a control condition and had suicidal behaviour or ideation as outcomes. Two researchers independently extracted the data. To assess suicidal behaviour, we used a random-effects model of relative risk based on a pooled measure of suicidal behaviour. For suicidal ideation, we calculated effect sizes with Hedges’ g. The study was registered at PROSPERO (registration number CRD42020129185). Results Of 1816 unique abstracts screened, 6 studies with 3536 participants were eligible for analysis. The relative risk of suicidal behaviour among patients who received an SPTI compared with control was 0.570 (95% CI 0.408–0.795, P = 0.001; number needed to treat, 16). No significant effect was found for suicidal ideation. Conclusions To our knowledge, this is the first study to report a meta-analysis on SPTIs for suicide prevention. Results support the use of SPTIs to help preventing suicidal behaviour and the inclusion of SPTIs in clinical guidelines for suicide prevention. We found no evidence for an effect of SPTIs on suicidal ideation, and other interventions may be needed for this purpose.


2015 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 20-44
Author(s):  
Maryke Woolf ◽  
Jason Bantjes ◽  
Ashraf Kagee

Youth suicidal behaviour poses a significant public health concern. Mental health care professionals working in schools have an important role to play in youth suicide prevention initiatives, although little is known of the experiences of this group of professionals in low and middle income countries (LMIC’s). The aim of this study was to explore the experiences of mental health professionals working in South African schools and to document their insights, attitudes and beliefs regarding youth suicidal behaviour. In-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with seven school-based mental health care professionals and data were analysed using Thematic Analysis. Participants reported that they relied on a reactive strategy by responding to youths who were in crisis. They were challenged by a lack of support from faculty staff, a lack of access to resources, and heavy caseloads. Findings highlight the need for a proactive and collaborative approach to suicide prevention among mental health care professionals, teachers and parents in South African schools and improved training and supervision.


2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 621-621
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Necka

Abstract The Geriatrics and Aging Processes Research Branch of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) supports research on the etiology, pathophysiology, and trajectory of late life mental disorders. The branch encourages research using neuroscience, cognitive and affective science, and social and behavioral science to translate basic and preclinical research to clinical research. The branch prioritizes research that investigates neuropsychiatric disorders of aging, how they interact with neurodevelopment/neurodegeneration, and how to assess, treat, and prevent them. Of particular interest is research on social isolation and suicide. Suicide prevention research is an urgent priority: NIMH’s portfolio includes projects aimed at identifying those at risk for suicide, understanding causes of suicide risk, developing suicide prevention interventions, and testing the effectiveness of these interventions and services in real-world settings. In this talk, a NIMH program official will discuss the NIMH research agenda in the domain of late-life mental illness, social isolation, and suicide.


2021 ◽  
pp. 107780122110089
Author(s):  
Chunrye Kim ◽  
Joel A. Capellan ◽  
Hung-En Sung ◽  
Eduardo Rafael Orellana

Intimate partner violence (IPV) among women in Latin America, including Honduras, is serious. To help IPV victims, a community-based educational program has been implemented. This study aims to examine the impact of IPV training among teachers and health care professionals ( n = 160) on increases in IPV knowledge, attitudes, and self-efficacy when dealing with IPV victims using a pretest and posttest design. We found that the treatment group who received IPV training showed significantly lower justification for IPV, higher gender equality attitudes, and higher IPV knowledge as well as higher confidence levels in identifying IPV victims and safety planning for victims. We concluded that the IPV training program using the community-based approaches has the potential to help IPV victims in Honduras. More efforts should be made to increase the educational opportunities the community members can receive.


Lab on a Chip ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 332-342 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Hossein M. Kouhani ◽  
Jiajia Wu ◽  
Arman Tavakoli ◽  
Arthur J. Weber ◽  
Wen Li

Glaucoma is a leading cause of blindness and real-time monitoring of intraocular pressure is of great demand. We present a stretchable sensor inside a contact lens capable of monitoring change in the curvature of cornea caused by IOP fluctuations.


BMJ Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (12) ◽  
pp. e053144
Author(s):  
Emmanuel Nii-Boye Quarshie ◽  
Kwaku Oppong Asante ◽  
Johnny Andoh-Arthur

IntroductionSelf-harm and suicidal behaviour represent major global health problems, which account for significant proportions of the disease burden in low-income and middle-income countries, including Ghana. This review aims to synthesise the available and accessible evidence on prevalence estimates, correlates, risk and protective factors, the commonly reported methods and reasons for self-harm and suicidal behaviour in Ghana.Methods and analysisWe will conduct a systematic review reported according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses statement (2009) recommendations. Regional and global electronic databases (African Journals OnLine, African Index Medicus, APA PsycINFO, Global Health, MEDLINE and PubMed) will be searched systematically up to December 2021 for observational studies and qualitative studies that have reported prevalence estimates, correlates, risk and protective factors, methods and reasons for self-harm and suicidal behaviour in Ghana. The electronic database searches will be supplemented with reference harvesting and grey literature searching in Google Scholar and ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global for postgraduate dissertations. Only records in English will be included. The Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool (2018) will be used to assess the methodological quality of included studies. Meta-analysis or narrative synthesis or both will be used, contingent on the extent of heterogeneity across eligible observational studies.Ethics and disseminationConsidering that this is a systematic review of accessible and available literature, we will not seek ethical approval. On completion, this review will be submitted to a peer-reviewed journal, be disseminated publicly at (mental) health conferences with focus on self-harm and suicide prevention. The important findings would also be shared with key national stakeholder groups in Ghana: Ghana Association for Suicide Prevention, Ghana Mental Health Authority, Ghana Psychological Association, Centre for Suicide and Violence Research, Accra and the Parliamentary Select Committee on Health.Prospero registration numberCRD42021234622.


2000 ◽  
Vol 34 (3) ◽  
pp. 388-407 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jane M. Burns ◽  
George C. Patton

Objective: This review draws on current knowledge of risk for youth suicide to categorise strategies for intervention. Its goal is to identify areas of ‘research need’ and to provide an evidence base to identify ‘best buy’ preventive interventions for youth suicide. Method: The design, development, implementation and evaluation of prevention strategies ranging from clinical interventions to population-based universal approaches are considered within five risk factor domains: individual, family, community, school and peer. Results: There is a paucity of evidence on the effects of interventions targeting depression and suicidal behaviour. Nevertheless, there are effective indicated, selective and universal interventions for important risk factors for depression and suicidal behaviour. Little evidence has emerged to support the efficacy of some traditional approaches to suicide prevention, such as school based suicide education programs and telephone hotlines. Conclusions: Youth suicide prevention strategies in Australia have generally employed traditional approaches that focus on clinical interventions for self-harmers, restricting access to lethal means, providing services to high risk groups and enhancing general practitioner responses. Both program development and research evaluation of interventions for many important risk and protective factors for suicide have been neglected.


Author(s):  
Emma Björkenstam ◽  
Ellenor Mittendorfer-Rutz ◽  
Armin Schmidtke

The comparison of international statistics on suicide attempts across European countries is challenged by differences in definitions and the lack of compulsory registration. Among studies, the WHO/EURO multicentre study on parasuicide provided comprehensive data on both the occurrence and background factors of suicide attempts in different European countries. Besides the WHO/EURO study, this text summarizes findings from other clinical and community surveys as well as nationwide register data. Additionally, data about the relationship between different components of the suicidal spectrum by examining the WHO Multisite Intervention Study on Suicidal Behaviours (SUPRE-MISS) is presented. Peculiarities of the inter-European variation in patterns and trends of the phenomenon and various social and psychiatric determinants are also described. The WHO/EURO study was continued as the MONSUE (monitoring suicidal behaviour in Europe) study, which supplied even more detailed data on specific risk groups. These can then be supported by tailor-made suicide prevention strategies.


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