Improving Mental Health Care Providers Level of Confidence and Skills in Suicide Risk Assessment

Needs Assessment Background: Approximately 60% of suicides are associated with mood disorders, and nearly 50% of those that died by suicide had received mental care services one month before their death. A comprehensive assessment of suicidal behavior and ideation varies based on each mental health care provider's level of experience and training in suicide risk assessment and prevention. A lack of uniformity in suicide risk assessment tools exists among facilities and providers. Mental health care providers can play a crucial role in the reduction of death by suicide through the use of appropriate suicide risk assessment interventions. The purpose of this project was to improve the mental health care provider's level of confidence and skills in suicide risk assessment to help reduce suicide rates.Methods: This quality improvement project included a pre-survey to identify the educational needs of the mental health clinicians at the Jewish Family Services (JFS). An educational presentation, suicide risk assessment templates, and crisis resource flyers were created and made available in each mental health clinician's office. The post-intervention and post-survey were used to determine mental health clinician's level of satisfaction with the educational training and their engagement in the comprehensive integration of evidence-based suicide risk assessment components. Results: Seven participants completed the post-survey and the results indicated that more clinicians reported an increased level of comfort in asking patients direct questions about suicidal thoughts and behaviors. The data analysis showed that 29% (n=2) of the participants reported they "agreed," and 71% (n=5) participants reported "strongly agreed" that the education improved their level of confidence and skills in working with patients at risk for suicide.Conclusion: The educational presentation, suicide risk assessment templates, and flyers appear to be useful resources to help improve mental health clinicians' level of confidence and skills in suicide risk assessment. In the future, more extended follow-up periods and frequent educational training sessions might be necessary to promote the maintenance of clinical practice change.