Suicide prevention: evidence-informed interventions for the health care workforce
- Collection:
- Health Policy and Services Research
- Uniform Title(s):
- Suicide prevention (American Hospital Association)
- Contributor(s):
- American Hospital Association, issuing body. Health Research and Educational Trust, issuing body.
- Publication:
- [Washington, D.C.] : American Hospital Association, [2022]
- Language(s):
- English
- Format:
- Text
- Subject(s):
- Evidence-Based Medicine Health Personnel Suicide Prevention United States
- Genre(s):
- Technical Report
- Abstract:
- According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), health care workers are at an increased risk for suicide for reasons such as difficult working conditions, long work hours, rotating and irregular shifts, emotionally difficult situations with patients and family members, risk of exposure to diseases, and other hazards, including workplace violence, routine exposure to human suffering and death, and access to lethal means. The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the risk factors for suicide in the health care workforce. A study by Mental Health America from June--September 2020 showed that of the 1,119 health care workers surveyed, 93% reported experiencing stress, 86% reported experiencing anxiety, 77% reported frustration, 76% reported exhaustion and burnout, and 75% reported feeling overwhelmed. Thirty-nine percent of health care workers said that they did not feel like they had adequate emotional support. In September 2021, the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), part of the CDC, granted the American Hospital Association’s (AHA’s) Health Education & Research Trust (HRET) a grant to: (1) Identify and curate existing evidence-based and developing approaches for addressing and reducing suicide risk and attempts in hospital personnel; (2) Develop curated content of interventions, by hospital type where possible, to optimize maximum spread and adoption of suicide risk assessment and/or prevention strategies; and (3) Identify metrics to assess and monitor prevention initiatives. To address the above objectives, a literature review, and a survey, interviews, and focus groups of hospital and system leaders were conducted. These combined methods led to the identification of three drivers of suicide in the health care workforce: behavioral health stigma, limited access to behavioral health treatment, and job-related stressors. The impact of the three drivers was further explored in the one on-one interviews and focus groups, which delved into modes and accessibility of services as well as the effectiveness of campaigns to reduce stigma and the importance of data collection, stratification and use.
- Copyright:
- Reproduced with permission of the copyright holder. Further use of the material is subject to CC BY-NC-ND license. (More information)
- Extent:
- 1 online resource (1 PDF file (16 pages))
- Illustrations:
- Illustrations
- NLM Unique ID:
- 9918734068306676 (See catalog record)
- Permanent Link:
- http://resource.nlm.nih.gov/9918734068306676