Re-imagining crisis care: experiences of delivering and receiving the Assured brief psychological intervention for people presenting to Emergency Departments with self-harm

Neha Shah; Sally O'Keeffe; Sam Hayward; Mimi Suzuki; Rose McCabe

doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1271674

Re-imagining crisis care: experiences of delivering and receiving the Assured brief psychological intervention for people presenting to Emergency Departments with self-harm

Front Psychiatry. 2024 Mar 26:15:1271674. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1271674. eCollection 2024.

Authors

Neha Shah¹, Sally O'Keeffe², Sam Hayward¹, Mimi Suzuki¹, Rose McCabe¹

Affiliations

¹ School of Health and Psychological Science, City, University of London, London, United Kingdom.
² Population Health Sciences Institute, Newcastle University, Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, United Kingdom.

Abstract

Background: Risk of suicide is increased immediately following emergency department (ED) attendance for self-harm. Evidence suggests that brief psychological interventions delivered in EDs are effective for self-harm. The Assured intervention comprises an enhanced biopsychosocial assessment in the ED, collaborative safety planning and three rapid solution focused follow-up sessions.

Aim: We addressed the following research questions: What were ED mental health liaison practitioners' and patients' experiences of the Assured intervention? What were the barriers and facilitators? What might the mechanisms be for improving experiences and outcomes?

Methods: We conducted a feasibility study of the Assured intervention in four EDs in Southeast England. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 13 practitioners and 27 patients. Interviews were transcribed, coded line-by-line in Nvivo and thematically analysed using an inductive approach. Inter-rater reliability was calculated with a kappa coefficient of 0.744.

Keywords: Emergency Department; liaison psychiatry; psychological intervention; qualitative research; self-harm; solution-focused; suicide.

Grants and funding

The author(s) declare financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. This article presents independent research funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) under its Programme Grants for Applied Research Programme (Reference number RP-PG-0617- 20004). The views expressed are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the NIHR or the Department of Health and Social Care.