Assessing Suicide Risk
Discuss 3 Assessing Suicide Risk
As a social worker, you will likely at some point have a client with a positive suicide risk assessment. Many individuals with suicidal ideation also have a plan, and that plan may be imminent. Even when the risk is not urgent at a given moment, current research shows that most suicides occur within 3 months of the risk being assessed within a formal appointment. Ideation can quickly become a suicide.
For this Discussion, you view an initial suicide risk assessment. As you evaluate the social worker’s actions, imagine yourself in their place. What would you do, and why?
To prepare:
Explore an evidence-based tool about suicide risk assessment and safety planning. See the Week 3 document Suggested Further Reading for SOCW 6090 (PDF) for a list of resources to review.
Watch the “Suicide Assessment Interview” segment in the Sommers-Flanagan (2014) video to assess how it compares to your findings.
Access the Walden Library to research scholarly resources related to suicide and Native American populations.
By Day 3
Post a response in which you address the following:
Identify and discuss elements of Dr. Sommers-Flanagan’s suicide risk assessment.
Describe the elements of safety planning that you would put in place as Tommi’s social worker in the first week and in the first months.
Identify a suicide risk assessment tool you would use at future sessions to identify changes in her risk level. Explain why you would use this tool.
Explain any adjustments or enhancements that might be helpful given Tommi’s cultural background. Support your ideas with scholarly resources.
References
Chapter 10, “Diagnosis and the Mental Status Exam” (pp. 119–126)
Chapter 17, “Beyond Diagnosis: Compliance, Suicide, Violence” (pp. 271–280)
Chu, J., Floyd, R., Diep, H., Pardo, S., Goldblum, P., & Bongar, B. (2013). A tool for the culturally competent assessment of suicide: The Cultural Assessment of Risk for Suicide (CARS) measure. Psychological Assessment, 25(2), 424–434. doi:10.1037/a0031264
Osteen, P. J., Jacobson, J. M., & Sharpe, T. L. (2014). Suicide prevention in social work education: How prepared are social work students?. Journal of Social Work Education, 50(2), 349-364.
Required Media
Accessible player
Walden University, LLC. (Producer). (2018b). Psychopathology and diagnosis for social work practice podcast: The diagnostic interview, the mental status exam, risk and safety assessments [Audio podcast]. Baltimore, MD: Author.
MedLecturesMadeEasy. (2017, May 29). Mental status exam [Video file]. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/RdmG739KFF8
Sommers-Flanagan, J., & Sommers-Flanagan, R. (Producers). (2014). Clinical interviewing: Intake, assessment and therapeutic alliance [Video file].
Watch the “Suicide Assessment Interview” segment starting at 01:44:37. This is the interview with Tommi, which will be used for the Discussion.
Watch the “Mental Status Examination” segment starting at 01:22:23. This is the case of Carl, which will be used for the Application.
Optional Resources
First, M. B. (2014). Handbook of differential diagnosis. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association
Chapter 1, “Differential Diagnosis Step by Step” (pp. 14–24)
Document: Suggested Further Reading for SOCW 6090 (PDF)
Note: This is the same document introduced in Week 1.
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