The Columbia Suicide Severity Rating Scale (C-SSRS) is often considered the gold standard of suicide risk assessment (Giddens, Sheehan & Sheehan, 2014). It was developed in 2011 by a team from Columbia University and has been validated with both adult and adolescent populations (Posner, et. al., 2011) Items in the C-SSRS The C-SSRS can be…
Author: Dustin
Understanding and Preventing Male Suicide
Introduction Suicide is a significant public health issue in most countries. Suicide rates have been constant in the US and Canada, with some age and risk categories experiencing reduced suicide rates while increased suicide rates in other age groups and risk categories have made up the difference. Male suicide has been commonly overlooked as suicide has…
The Suicidal Affect-Behavior-Cognition Scale (SABCS)
The Suicide Affect-Behaviour-Cognition scale is a new public domain suicide risk assessment tool that has demonstrated ability to predict future suicidal behaviour. Individuals circle each response and sum up the results, with higher scores indicating greater risk. It’s important to note that no cut-off scores have yet been developed which may limit the utility of…
ED-SAFE Suicide Screening Tool
The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations that accredits healthcare organizations in the US is often a requirement for state licensure or for receiving Medicare/Medicaid reimbursements. One of the items in the Joint Commission accreditation is Goal 15.01.01, comprehensive suicide risk assessment. This involves screening of individuals who are at risk, and further assessment…
Building Communication Skills
In the helping professions, including both client-facing roles (like therapy or case management) and other roles, the importance of being able to talk constructively with people is key. Particularly in areas like nursing or case management where both physical/medical issues need to be taken care of, patients can feel overlooked or like they’re not taken…