Grant Application

Jacquelin Esque, MD; Manivel Rengasamy, MD; and Priyanka Amin, MD, UPMC Western Psychiatric Hospital

Proposed Innovation

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, suicide is the second leading cause of death in young people ages 15 to 24. The risk of suicide is especially elevated among transitional age adults between ages 18 and 24 who are discharged from an inpatient psychiatric unit.

This project plans to use a telephone-based intervention focused on suicide safety planning and supportive education to help high-risk young adults at UPMC Western Psychiatric Hospital transition safely from inpatient to outpatient treatment.

Improvements in Action

Through this novel project, all high-risk transitional age patients will be identified and targeted for a phone-based intervention. This will involve a 15- to 20- minute phone call with each patient that includes a suicide safety plan review and education about community resources. Six phone calls delivered over a three-month period will provide assistance with treatment follow-up.

Intended Outcomes

This phone-based intervention is expected to result in reduced rates of suicidal behavior and inpatient rehospitalizations among high-risk patients over a three- to six-month period. The long-range goal is to incorporate the project as standard of care post-discharge for psychiatric patients at UPMC Western Psychiatric.