Suicide Prevention (Stahl’s Handbooks)

The current suicide public health crisis and advances in clinical practice have increased the need for clear, evidence-informed guidance on suicide prevention in healthcare. This clinical suicide prevention handbook is an essential resource for mental health and primary care professionals, and any practitioner aiming to ensure their practice is up-to-date, patient-centred and consistent with the most current standards of care. Starting with a summary of the science and public health model of suicide, the book offers quick tips for suicide screening, risk assessment, interventions, and follow-up communication. It discusses medicolegal risk management, how health systems can prevent suicide and provides highly specialized guidance for clinicians following the loss of a patient to suicide. Focused sections include incorporating social media into care plans, telemedicine, issues related to culture and race/ethnicity, and working with specific populations. It introduces an integrated, prevention-oriented approach to suicide prevention, incorporating realistic supports, foreseeable changes, and strategies.

• Provides clear and useful steps, with essential background information, that emphasise actionable steps and clear take-away points, allowing readers to find practical guidance quickly during the clinical care of patients.
• Tackles a very timely subject matter, with the topic of suicide prevention gaining momentum in both mainstream culture and the clinical world, and includes personal accounts voiced by people with Lived Experience of Suicide (suicide loss and attempt survivors).
• Covers the most recent accreditation requirements regarding new standards, supporting training efforts in health systems and providing a framework for other current changes such as the Zero Suicide movement in healthcare.