Zero Suicide Framework

Lead

Instilling the belief that suicide can be prevented, with strong focus on high reliability and continuous improvement, while supporting staff and creating a ‘just culture’ which is free from blame and stigma.

Train

Develop skills for a standardised approach to risk formulation and safety planning, including counselling and reducing access to lethal means. Queensland developed the Suicide Risk Assessment and Management for Emergency Departments “train the trainer” program.

Identify

Development of a centralised, consistent and systematic approach to identifying suicide risks to ensure a consistent approach is adopted and executed across all Zero Suicide sites.

Zero Suicide Healthcare

Led by hospital and healthcare leaders, the Zero Suicide framework standardises the approach to suicide management through introducing robust policies and procedures, implementing high quality frontline training and proactively engaging to ensure the safety of people with suicidal behaviours.

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The US based Education Development Centre and its Suicide Prevention Resource Centre developed the toolkit for implementation of the Zero Suicide model. For access to the extensive range of resources in this toolkit visit zerosuicide.com

Engage

Development of processes and procedures for effective continuous engagement, with KPIs aligned to these practices. Involves every patient being closely followed through their engagement with the health system,re-engaging at every encounter no matter the reason for the visit.

Treat

Provision of effective and proven treatment. Research evidence strongly supports targeting and treating suicidal ideation and behaviours specifically and directly, independent of diagnosis, as well as any diagnosed mental health or substance abuse problem.

Transition

Appropriate transition out of the healthcare system with provision for follow-up care and support minimizes the risk of suicide post-discharge.
Transferring sufficient medical data at each transition point to minimize need for patient to relive their story each time.

Improve

Development of a framework for continuous improvement and lessons learnt, to ensure the model remains aligned with best practice.

Rotterdam International Declaration

In 2019, the Rotterdam International Declaration for Zero Suicide Healthcare was published. You can read the declaration by clicking the link below. We have also included the accompanying video to the declaration.

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