Collaborative Safety Planning to Reduce Risk in Suicidal Patients: A Key Component of the Zero Suicide Model
The Zero Suicide model builds on the foundational belief that death by suicide for individuals receiving care within the health and behavioral health system is preventable. Collaborative safety planning, a critical component of the model, is an approach that allows clinicians to develop safety plans with any person identified for suicide risk. In this webinar, Adam Swanson of the Suicide Prevention Resource Center provided an overview of the Zero Suicide model and how safety planning contributes to the model. Dr. Barbara Stanley of Columbia University described the role safety planning has in preventing suicide, the six components of the Safety Planning Intervention (Stanley & Brown, 2012), and the research and evidence that supports safety planning. Dr. Stanley detailed how, in order to be effective, safety planning must be treated as a collaborative clinical intervention rather than a form to be completed. She briefly summarized the theoretical underpinnings of safety planning, its intended use, and the training necessary to embed the intervention in health care settings. Mr. Michael Cain of Southwest Behavioral Health Center in Utah discussed why the Center chose to incorporate collaborative safety planning as part of clinical workflows, how it is being implemented, and the challenges and successes encountered.