Suicide-preventive activities in psychiatric care: evaluation of an educational programme in suicide prevention.
To promote implementation of suicide-preventive activities, the Swedish National Centre for Suicide Research and Prevention of Mental Ill-Health (NASP) introduced a 200-h academic, postgraduate educational programme (based on the training-of-trainers model) in suicide prevention. This programme was provided at Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, for key persons in psychiatric care. Twenty-nine key persons from 11 psychiatric intervention clinics in Stockholm County attended the first course. Preconditions for implementing suicide-preventive activities were assessed by means of semi-structured interviews with all course participants still working in the intervention clinics (n=10). In all but one of these 10 clinics, a wide range of suicide-preventive activities had been implemented as a result of the NASP course. Activities varied in scope, but the key persons seemed to have succeeded in pinpointing the key elements in suicide prevention - the need for specific knowledge about the suicidal process and for well-defined suicide-preventive routines. However, organizational factors and staff turnover were obstacles to maintaining and making the activities routine. There is a need to strengthen the course participants' formal roles as implementers and encourage the clinical management in their continuous implementation of suicide-preventive activities.
Ramberg
Inga-Lill
IL
Swedish National Centre for Suicide Research and Prevention of Mental Ill-Health (NASP) at the Swedish National Institute for Psychosocial Medicine, Department of Public Health Sciences, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden. Inga-lill.Ramberg@ipm.ki.se
Wasserman
Danuta
D
D000328:Adult; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D002983:Clinical Competence; D003419:Crisis Intervention; D003479:Curriculum; D004503:Education, Medical, Graduate; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006284:Health Plan Implementation; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011570:Psychiatry / Q000193:education*; D012949:Social Work, Psychiatric / Q000193:education*; D013405:Suicide / Q000523:psychology; D013548:Sweden; D000092864:Suicide Prevention