Community care of individuals at risk of suicide: the Life Promotion Clinic model
Assistance to suicidal patients is problematic both at the hospital and community care level. Inadequacy of facilities, pressured personnel, long waiting time, and professional and social stigmatization are just some of the many issues that interfere with successful treatment. The goal of this paper...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Hindawi - Emerald Publishing
2013-09-01
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| Series: | Mental Illness |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.pagepress.org/journals/index.php/mi/article/view/4793 |
| _version_ | 1797964836496211968 |
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| author | Kairi Kolves Urska Arnautovska Angelo De Gioannis Diego De Leo |
| author_facet | Kairi Kolves Urska Arnautovska Angelo De Gioannis Diego De Leo |
| author_sort | Kairi Kolves |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Assistance to suicidal patients is problematic both at the hospital and community care level. Inadequacy of facilities, pressured personnel, long waiting time, and professional and social stigmatization are just some of the many issues that interfere with successful treatment. The goal of this paper is to present the functioning of the Life Promotion Clinic (LPC), Australia, and describe its users. The LPC is the first specialized outpatient service in Australia dedicated to the treatment of individuals with suicidal thoughts and behaviors. A description of the service and characteristics of its clients (demographic, psychopathology, risk of suicide) are herein presented. Data were collected for 63 male and 175 female patients who attended the LPC over a three-year period. Patients were mostly single females, aged up to 44 years, poorly educated, unemployed or on a pension/benefit. The majority of patients reported at least one suicide attempt, severe depression and anxiety scores, moderate-severe feelings of hopelessness, and high impulsiveness scores. Compared to females, male patients presented with more active desire to kill themselves and higher level of suicidal ideation. We can conclude that establishing a specialist service for treatment of individuals at increased risk for suicide requires consideration of both patient and clinicians needs. The LPC presents an innovative model of community service, capable of engaging patients with serious mental health issues, while making the service accessible to people from various social categories. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-11T01:50:02Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-89e75698ef974757abe0d4231a87cf81 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2036-7457 2036-7465 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-11T01:50:02Z |
| publishDate | 2013-09-01 |
| publisher | Hindawi - Emerald Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Mental Illness |
| spelling | doaj.art-89e75698ef974757abe0d4231a87cf812023-01-03T06:37:51ZengHindawi - Emerald PublishingMental Illness2036-74572036-74652013-09-0152e12e1210.4081/mi.2013.e12Community care of individuals at risk of suicide: the Life Promotion Clinic modelKairi KolvesUrska ArnautovskaAngelo De GioannisDiego De LeoAssistance to suicidal patients is problematic both at the hospital and community care level. Inadequacy of facilities, pressured personnel, long waiting time, and professional and social stigmatization are just some of the many issues that interfere with successful treatment. The goal of this paper is to present the functioning of the Life Promotion Clinic (LPC), Australia, and describe its users. The LPC is the first specialized outpatient service in Australia dedicated to the treatment of individuals with suicidal thoughts and behaviors. A description of the service and characteristics of its clients (demographic, psychopathology, risk of suicide) are herein presented. Data were collected for 63 male and 175 female patients who attended the LPC over a three-year period. Patients were mostly single females, aged up to 44 years, poorly educated, unemployed or on a pension/benefit. The majority of patients reported at least one suicide attempt, severe depression and anxiety scores, moderate-severe feelings of hopelessness, and high impulsiveness scores. Compared to females, male patients presented with more active desire to kill themselves and higher level of suicidal ideation. We can conclude that establishing a specialist service for treatment of individuals at increased risk for suicide requires consideration of both patient and clinicians needs. The LPC presents an innovative model of community service, capable of engaging patients with serious mental health issues, while making the service accessible to people from various social categories.http://www.pagepress.org/journals/index.php/mi/article/view/4793suicidal ideation and behavior, barriers to treatment, specialist outpatient service |
| spellingShingle | Kairi Kolves Urska Arnautovska Angelo De Gioannis Diego De Leo Community care of individuals at risk of suicide: the Life Promotion Clinic model Mental Illness suicidal ideation and behavior, barriers to treatment, specialist outpatient service |
| title | Community care of individuals at risk of suicide: the Life Promotion Clinic model |
| title_full | Community care of individuals at risk of suicide: the Life Promotion Clinic model |
| title_fullStr | Community care of individuals at risk of suicide: the Life Promotion Clinic model |
| title_full_unstemmed | Community care of individuals at risk of suicide: the Life Promotion Clinic model |
| title_short | Community care of individuals at risk of suicide: the Life Promotion Clinic model |
| title_sort | community care of individuals at risk of suicide the life promotion clinic model |
| topic | suicidal ideation and behavior, barriers to treatment, specialist outpatient service |
| url | http://www.pagepress.org/journals/index.php/mi/article/view/4793 |
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