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Emergency Room Intervention for Suicidal Adolescent Females

An Evidence-Based Practice

Description

Emergency Room Intervention for Adolescent Females is a program for teenage girls 12 to 18 years old who are admitted to the emergency room after attempting suicide. This intervention, which involved the girl and her accompanying family members, aims to increase attendance in outpatient treatment following discharge from the emergency room and to reduce future suicide attempts by improving the emergency room experience thereby changing the family's conceptualization of the suicidal behavior and expectations about therapy. There are three components to the intervention: a two-hour training session for ER staff, a twenty-minute video for the adolescent and her family, and a family treatment session with a crisis therapist in the emergency room. The program was first implemented and evaluated in an inner-city hospital in New York City serving a predominantly disadvantaged, Latina population. It has since been used in Israel, Nicaragua, among American Indians in Arizona and Montana, and in emergency rooms in Los Angeles.

Goal / Mission

The Emergency Room Intervention for Suicidal Adolescent Females focuses on changing the conceptualization of suicidal behavior and expectations for therapy, thereby increasing attendance at outpatient therapy and decreasing future suicide risk.

Impact

The intervention increases the likelihood of follow-up treatment in an outpatient clinic and reduces suicide risk among adolescent females who have visited an emergency room due to a suicide attempt.

Results / Accomplishments

In a quasi-experimental study conducted over three years, adolescents who received the intervention were compared to those who received usual care. Participating adolescents were more likely to visit and complete the outpatient treatment program following emergency room discharge, showed significantly lower symptoms of depression over the 18-month follow-up period, and reported less suicidal ideation within one month of the emergency room visit. Among the participating families, mothers of the adolescents reported lower levels of depression within one month of the emergency room visit and reported more positive attitudes toward treatment.

About this Promising Practice

Organization(s)
UCLA Center for HIV Identification, Prevention and Treatment Services
Primary Contact
Mary Jane Rotheram-Borus, Ph.D.
10920 Wilshire Blvd, Suite 350
Los Angeles, CA 90024
(310) 794-8280
mrotheram@mednet.ucla.edu
http://chipts.ucla.edu/people/mary-jane-rotheram/
Topics
Health / Mental Health & Mental Disorders
Health / Adolescent Health
Organization(s)
UCLA Center for HIV Identification, Prevention and Treatment Services
Source
SAMHSA National Registry of Evidence-based Programs and Practices
Date of publication
2000
Date of implementation
1992
For more details
http://legacy.nreppadmin.net/ViewIntervention.aspx...
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?Db=pubmed&Cmd=S...
Target Audience
Teens, Racial/Ethnic Minorities

Related Promising Practices

  1. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Adolescent Depression
  2. Youth Suicide Public Service Announcement (PSA)
  3. Adolescent Coping with Depression Course

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An Evidence-Based Practice meets the following HCI criteria:

  1. The program description includes at a minimum: the sponsoring organization, program goals, program implementation steps, and outcomes that have demonstrated program success in achieving the program goal in one or more localities.
  2. The results from an evaluation of the program include quantitative measures showing improvement in the outcome(s) of interest after the implementation of the program (i.e. increase in smoking cessation, not just the delivery of a smoking cessation program). The outcome measure(s) is/are compared at relevant time periods before and after the intervention or program implementation. Alternatively, the evaluation study compares the outcome(s) between an intervention group and an appropriate control group.
  3. The study is of peer-review quality and presents numbers in a scientific manner; measurements of precision and reliability are included (e.g. confidence intervals, standard errors), results from statistical tests show a significant difference or change in the outcome measure(s), and relevant point estimates and p-values are presented. Note: if the results from an evaluation of a program are presented in a scientific manner and the outcome measure is improved compared to the baseline measurement or the control group but the difference is not statistically significant, the practice is classified as effective and not evidence-based.