Knox KL, Stanley B, Currier GW, Brenner L, Ghahramanlou-Holloway M, Brown G.
Am J Public Health. 2012 Mar;102 Suppl 1:S33-7. doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2011.300501.
SOURCE: Department of Veterans Affairs, VISN 2 Center of Excellence for Suicide Prevention, Rochester, NY, USA. Kerry.Knox@va.gov
Reducing deaths from veteran suicide is a public health priority for veterans who receive their care from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and those who receive services in community settings. Emergency departments frequently function as the primary or sole point of contact with the health care system for suicidal individuals; therefore, they represent an important venue in which to identify and treat veterans who are at risk for suicide. We describe the design, implementation and initial evaluation of a brief behavioral intervention for suicidal veterans seeking care at VA emergency departments. Initial findings of the feasibility and acceptability of the intervention suggest it may be transferable to diverse VA and non-VA settings, including community emergency departments and urgent care centers.