Impact of Emergency Department Safety Planning on 30-Day Mental Health Service Use

What is it about?

Almost a quarter of adults who die by suicide have a suicide-related visit to the emergency department (ED) in the year prior to their death. Safety planning is an brief evidence-based intervention delivered in the ED that provides individuals with strategies and resources to deal with suicidal crises. This study examined mental health care outcomes for individuals with suicide-related ED visits at hospitals that did and did not routinely implement safety planning. Safety planning was associated with fewer subsequent ED admissions, particularly for individuals without recent mental health care.

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