Posted by DCoE Public Affairs on September 14, 2015
When DCoE, in partnership with the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) released its Assessment and Management of Suicide Risk Clinical Support Tools last fall, they were hailed in a Rand report as an example of how to expedite providers’ adoption of new research. The tools make it easy for providers to apply the latest clinical guidelines for suicide prevention issued by the Defense Department and VA). Also included in the toolkit is information for families and patients. The following post from Health.mil explains how the tools were developed and how they can be used to improve care.
U.S. Air Force photo illustration by Tech. Sgt. Nadine Y. Barclay
When it comes to preventing suicide, the military provides resources for individuals, friends, families and providers who can make a difference and help save lives. The Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury (DCoE) and other Department of Defense experts collaborated with the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to develop a new set of tools, released last year in support of the 2013 clinical practice guideline for the assessment and management of suicide risk.
“We worked with the VA/DoD Evidence Based Work Group to develop clinical support tools that cover such areas as warning signs, evidence-based treatments and care transition,” said Public Health Service Cmdr. Angela Williams-Steele, a clinical psychologist and chief of evidence-based practices at DCoE’s Deployment Health Clinical Center.