Resource

A patient's death by suicide in health and behavioral healthcare organizations can have a significant impact on family members, other patients, and staff. It may be even more destabilizing or demoralizing in systems where significant changes to improve suicide care had been implemented. Optimal postvention practices in health and behavioral healthcare organizations highlight immediately supporting the family, other clients and staff, conducting root cause analyses, and embedding policies and protocols supporting postvention actions into the organization's operations. Consistent with a Zero Suicide framework, leadership should ensure that policies and practices promote an organizational response that is consistent with a just, no-blame culture that remains focused on continuous quality improvement in the aftermath of a patient suicide. This webinar will focus on how health and behavioral healthcare organizations respond following a patient suicide death. Participants will hear from health care leaders and experts who will discuss key components of an organization-level postvention plan. They will explore considerations for supporting patients, staff and the community, and continuing to provide quality care. Additionally, a clinician survivor will share her perspective on what she felt was supportive after experiencing a patient suicide. By the end of this webinar, participants will be able to (1) Explain how a health and behavioral health organization’s response to a suicide death can support improvements in suicide care practices; (2) Describe the role of Root Cause Analysis in a postvention response; and (3 )Identify steps that can be taken by organizations to support staff, other patients, and the family following a patient's death by suicide.