Written vs Electronic Safety Planning Study

Not Applicable

Completed

Brief Summary: Safety planning is a brief, ED-feasible intervention which has been demonstrated to save lives and has been universally recommended by every recent expert consensus panel on suicide prevention strategies. In one popular version of the safety plan developed by Stanley et al, the patient is encouraged to write out the following items: identifying personal signs of a crisis; helpful internal coping strategies; social contacts or settings which may distract from a crisis; using family members or friends for help when in crisis; mental health professionals who can be contacted when in crisis; and restricting access to lethal means.

This study aims to find out how valuable an electronic safety plan is compared to a traditional paper safety plan. People who are visiting the emergency department for thoughts of self-harm will be asked to participate.

Detailed Description: This project has 3 aims: (1) Will ED patients with suicidal ideation/attempt accept coaching on safety planning from non-clinical personnel (i.e., medical students or peer supporters); (2) Are these safety plans of high-enough quality for clinical personnel; and finally, (3) Will ED patients with suicidal ideation/attempt complete safety plans electronically?

Recruitment & Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria

Patients presenting for suicidal ideation (SI) or after a suicide attempt to the UAMS ED
Willingness to engage in safety planning with trained non-clinical staff
Have not already filled out a safety plan at the current visit

Exclusion Criteria

<18 or >89 years of age
Incarcerated or in police custody
Non-English-speaking or Non-English-writing (as translators will not be available for this study)
Critically-ill (or appear to be critically-ill)
Intoxicated with alcohol or other substance(s)
ED staff objection to patient enrollment in study
Unwilling or unable to complete the safety plan electronically
Unwilling or unable to use a tablet device to complete the safety plan
Unwilling or unable to show/email the safety plan to clinical and research staff

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
Electronic Safety Plan	Safety Net App	Participants will complete a suicide safety plan in the Safety Net app using a tablet.

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Length of Stay	Up to 12 hours	The length of stay in the ED for patients approached who agree to allow trained non-clinical staff to assist with safety planning.
Acceptability of Intervention	Up to 12 hours	The number of patients approached who agree to allow trained non-clinical staff to assist with safety planning.
Satisfaction With Safety Planning	Up to 12 hours	Evaluate patient satisfaction with safety planning. This will be assessed by having the patient rate their experience with the safety planning process on a 7-point Likert scale (1 - strongly disagree; 2 - disagree; 3 - moderately disagree; 4 - neutral; 5 - moderately agree; 6 - agree; 7 - strongly agree). A Likert scale measures how much someone disagrees or agrees with a particular statement.