In the ongoing effort to reduce the number of veterans who die by suicide, a new study identifies key factors that predict whether veterans who received a Comprehensive Suicide Risk Evaluation, the standardized suicide risk assessment implemented nationally in the Veterans Health Administration, will go on to die by their own hands.
The findings could help Veterans Affairs clinicians and others work to prevent more suicide deaths among veterans in this high-risk category.
The study focused on veterans who received a CSRE assessment from a VA clinician. The CSRE program launched nationally six years ago, and the new study looks at suicide deaths among veterans who received an assessment during its first year.
CSRE sessions, which can take about a half hour, are designed to evaluate a veteran’s current risk factors and protective factors for suicide using a standardized checklist.
Part of the appointment can be the development of a safety plan that maps out who the veteran can turn to when they feel suicidal, including the Veterans Crisis Line that can be reached by phone at 988, by text at 838255 and by online chat at https://www.veteranscrisisline.net/.
In some states, including Michigan, “red flag” laws allow clinicians, family members and law enforcement to seek a court order to remove firearms from the home of a person they believe to be a danger to themselves or others. The U-M Institute for Firearm Injury Prevention offers a free toolkit to help individuals understand this option, called an Extreme Risk Protection Order.
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