From Assessor to Ally; Redefining Suicide Care in a Crisis Facility

Body of Abstract: This workshop will explore the journey of a crisis facility organization committed to transforming its care approach for individuals presenting with suicidality and self-harm risks. Traditional crisis interventions, particularly in emergency departments, crisis facilities, and hospitals, often prioritize immediate safety through risk assessments, liability considerations, and involuntary commitment or hospitalization decisions. While these protocols focus on immediate physical safety, they can result in negative patient experiences, including feelings of being "locked away" or treated as liabilities rather than individuals in crisis. Such experiences often lead patients to report trauma associated with their care, reducing their willingness to seek help in future suicidal emergencies.
Our primary aim is to shift from this traditional, safety-centered approach to a more holistic, trauma-informed model that ensures physical safety and provides compassionate, partnership-driven care for those in crisis. This model seeks to bridge the gap between immediate safety measures and the long-term mental health needs of individuals experiencing suicidal ideation, encouraging them to view crisis care as a supportive resource rather than a last resort.
A New Approach to Suicide Care
Our organization has undertaken an extensive initiative to redefine suicide care pathways, emphasizing warmth, empathy, and collaboration over mere containment and risk mitigation. The goal is to move beyond immediate crisis stabilization to create a care environment that recognizes the complex emotional needs of individuals in crisis. This approach emphasizes best practices in safety planning, proactive treatment of suicidality, and robust connectivity to family, community, and follow-up support networks. By fostering this level of support, we aim to provide individuals in crisis with a comprehensive network of resources that addresses their immediate needs and helps prevent future crises.
Central to this approach is the integration of the latest evidence-based practices and the principles of compassionate care. Rather than viewing crisis care as a place of temporary containment, we envision it as a space where individuals feel safe to openly express their experiences, receive empathy, and develop effective coping strategies. Key elements of our model include:
• Establishing partnerships with individuals and families.
• Using safety planning as a tool for empowerment.
• Facilitating a smooth transition to ongoing support beyond the crisis center.
Implementation Process
We have implemented significant changes across staff training, digital tools, and clinical protocols to bring this vision to life. Our training now incorporates advanced techniques and concepts from Lifeline and Vibrant, emphasizing a thorough assessment of desire, intent, capability, and protective factors (buffers) in each individual's care plan. This deeper understanding enables staff to identify unique risk factors and collaborative opportunities with individuals served, fostering a therapeutic alliance that promotes a sense of partnership rather than isolation.
We updated our Electronic Health Record (EHR) system with tools to facilitate this approach. The system now includes functions that enable staff to select and highlight specific elements in each individual's risk assessment, pinpointing modifiable factors that can become areas of partnership during the crisis intervention. We are training staff to use the EHR tools to identify protective factors, resilience indicators, and personalized safety measures that resonate with the individual's lived experiences. This information supports a care process tailored to everyone’s unique context, reinforcing trust and rapport while ensuring personalized safety measures.
Additionally, we have integrated training and tools for enhanced safety planning, including self-harm intent scales, which allow for a more nuanced assessment of each person's needs. Our protocols now emphasize developing follow-up plans that ensure continuity of care post-crisis, helping individuals connect with ongoing resources and community support systems.
To assess the effectiveness of these new processes, we have introduced measures that track clinical outcomes by cross-referencing self-harm intent with other variables, such as diagnosis, demographic factors, and the resolution of critical action items. Key metrics include ensuring lethal means safety, completing safety plans, and establishing follow-up appointments or community-based supports before discharge. This outcome tracking improves the quality of care and provides critical insights that help refine our approach and identify further areas for improvement.
Conclusion
This workshop will offer attendees a detailed overview of the steps involved in creating a trauma-informed, compassionate, and recovery-focused crisis care model. Attendees will learn about the tools, techniques, and protocols we have integrated to create a responsive and supportive environment for individuals facing suicidality and self-harm. Specifically, we will cover how to enhance EHR capabilities to support collaboration and care personalization, leverage advanced staff training to foster empathetic, effective communication, and develop robust follow-up plans that strengthen connections to community resources.
Ultimately, this workshop aims to equip attendees with practical strategies for shifting from a traditional, safety-centered model to a holistic approach centered on partnership, collaboration, and compassionate care. Through these methods, we seek to redefine crisis response as an empowering, supportive resource for individuals in their most vulnerable moments, ensuring that every person feels valued, connected, and safe. This approach enhances immediate outcomes for individuals in crisis and builds trust in crisis care systems, encouraging people to seek help without fear of traumatization or judgment.

Learning Objectives:

• Apply suicide care tools and techniques that promote a collaborative, individualized approach for individuals experiencing suicidality in a crisis facility care setting.
• Explain how customized EHR templates support individualized care and collaborative risk assessment in crisis settings.
• Utilize feedback mechanisms to adapt and improve crisis intervention strategies based on real-time input from individuals served.