Citation

Esposito-Smythers C, Defayette AB, Whitmyre E, Steinberg P, Goldston DB, Asarnow JR. Evid. Based Pract. Child Adolesc. Ment. Health. 2021; 6(3): 328-342.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2021, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/23794925.2021.1917020

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Youth suicide clusters are a tragedy that no community should have to face. This paper details how a large community came together to better understand and prevent the future loss of young lives in their County using interdisciplinary quality improvement (QI) teams and a multi-component, continuous QI project. This includes the formation of a Youth Suicide Review Team, the development of a County wide Blueprint for youth and family behavioral health services, and the launching of a training consortium in evidence-based practice for behavioral health providers. The details surrounding these efforts are discussed, and the SAFETY-Acute/Family Intervention for Suicide Prevention is highlighted as an example of the training conducted. Finally, a discussion of some of the successes, barriers, and attempts to address obstacles along the QI pathway are offered. Broadly, this paper offers one model for how to leverage interdisciplinary academic-community partnerships to decrease risk for youth deaths by suicide by improving the quality of behavioral healthcare for youth and families. © 2021 Society of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology.

Language: en

Keywords

adolescent; human; suicide; juvenile; risk factor; child behavior; health service; family therapy; risk reduction; Article; evidence based practice; total quality management