Care New England Health System recently collaborated with the R.I. Department of Health to train 89 clinicians throughout the state in Counseling on Access to Lethal Means, or CALM. This training is focused on reducing deaths by suicide and creating a safer environment at home when someone is at a high risk for suicide.
Lisa Uebelacker, director of research at Butler Hospital and co-director of the hospital’s Behavioral Medicine and Addictions Research Group, spoke with Providence Business News about Care New England’s CALM training.
PBN: Why and when did Care New England decide to have clinicians participate in CALM training?
UEBELACKER: For many years, CNE has had a Suicide Prevention Workgroup with members from the various CNE hospitals and primary care. We have also worked closely with the Rhode Island Department of Health. So, when the workgroup learned of this opportunity to offer CALM training to CNE clinicians, we jumped at the chance.
Many of us had taken online CALM training, and we knew it to be an excellent opportunity for clinicians to improve their skills for communicating with patients and families about making their home physically safer when someone in the home is at increased risk for suicide.
PBN: Why is it important to screen for suicide risk? Is this suggested for all patients?
UEBELACKER: Screening for suicide risk accomplishes a few goals. The more obvious one is that it allows the clinician to identify someone who needs extra help to get through a difficult time. But it also communicates the message that it is OK to talk to a health care provider if you are having thoughts of suicide. It is most important to screen patients who have risk factors such as psychiatric illness; substance use disorder; a history of a suicide attempt; a recent loss; legal, financial, or job-related problems. More providers are screening patients more generally, as well.
PBN: How can the conversations that physicians have with patients and families about safety save lives?
UEBELACKER: All different types of health care providers can – and should – be able to talk to patients about safety in the home. Families and providers can help to make sure that if a person experiences a sudden desire to hurt themselves, they do not have ready access to means that would make that injury lethal.
PBN: What are some safety measures people can take to reduce the risk of suicide of a loved one?
UEBELACKER: Making the home safe means locking up or properly disposing of medications, securing firearms and taking other steps to ensure that means that could be lethal are not readily available to the person who is currently experiencing increased suicide risk. There is a lot of great information on this
R.I. Department of Health website.
PBN: What’s next for Care New England’s suicide prevention efforts?
UEBELACKER: We have been teaching clinicians skills in safety planning – that is, helping a patient to develop a written and personalized plan for what they can do to get through a time of crisis. We will continue to teach those skills to new clinicians. We hope to offer more CALM trainings, as well. Our goal is that clinicians across Care New England have the skills they need to help prevent suicide.
Katie Castellani is a PBN staff writer. You may contact her at Castellani@PBN.com.
