Suicide Risk Assessment and Action Plan Protocol
Looking for a comprehensive suicide risk assessment form which also documents a follow-up plan? Check out this suicide risk assessment protocol shared with us by Jim Raines, President-Elect of SSWAA.
About the Instrument:
The instrument is a slightly modified version of the Linehan Risk Assessment & Management Protocol (LRAMP, formerly UWRAMP).
Read more about the LRAMP in this article:
Linehan, M. M., Comtois, K. A., & Ward-Ciesielski, E. F. (2012). Assessing and managing risk with suicidal individuals. Cognitive and Behavioral Practice,19(2), 218-232.
What I like about it:
The instrument assesses both the suicide risk and protective factors. I also like that it has a spot to complete a simple functional behavior analysis of the behavior leading to assessment. My favorite aspect of the tool is that it includes a place to document your interventions as well as the follow-up course of action.
Weaknesses:
The LRAMP was created for use with adults (although an adolescent version is in development). It was also intended for use in a clinical setting. Therefore, it uses clinical terms (client, therapist, supervisor) and a few of the questions / field options don’t apply our setting or to children.
While I found most of the form to be straight forward, there were a few areas where I wasn’t sure why a field / checkbox was included. Reading the journal article on the LRAMP provided helpful context and cleared up most of my questions.
Do you have a tool you use to assess for suicide risk? We’d love to hear about it! Leave a comment below.
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Our district uses the Child Suicide Risk Assessment (CSRA) from Girls & Boys Town for our students in K-6. The Screen for Youth Suicide Risk (SYSR) is used for our students over the age of 12 (7th – 12th).
Thanks for sharing, Tina! Could tell me some things you like / dislike about those tools?