Citation

Martin D, Hamilton S. Nurs. Times 2006; 102(2): 36-38.

Affiliation

University of Ulster at Jordanstown.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2006, Nursing Times)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

16429689

Abstract

Many tools routinely used by health professionals to assess suicide risk rely heavily upon verbal information received from patients during the course of an interview, despite the majority of interpersonal communication in the health care setting being of a non-verbal nature. A verbal statement of suicidal intent may be of little value as the person may be performing according to interviewer expectations and interview context. To facilitate more accurate and meaningful suicide risk assessment and effective clinical judgement, the non-verbal components of patient behaviour must be addressed and more specifically measured.

Language: en