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Chaplain Suicide Prevention Consult (CSPC)
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This practice is designed to: 1) improve Veterans’ access to mental and spiritual care; 2) increase awareness and integration of spirituality in clinical care, especially in addressing suicidality; and 3) increase dialogue between the suicide prevention team and chaplaincy, consistent with established VA policy.
This practice is part of the Integrative Mental Health (IMH) Dynamic Diffusion Network.
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Ready to adopt this practice?
Visit this address to complete a pre-implementation survey and get started now! https://tinyurl.com/ChSPCon
Origin:
January 2015, Durham VA Medical Center
Adoptions:
29 successful, 18 in-progress
Awards and Recognition:
Best Practice Recognition 2018- National VA Chaplain Service (formerly National Chaplain Center)
Recent Updates
Overview
Problem
- Delivering Chaplaincy Services to Veterans at Increased Risk of Suicide Kopacz & Pollitt, 2015
Files
Solution
Results
Additionally, some sites have modified the process to include proactive chaplaincy outreach to Veterans on the Facility High Risk list and/or by receiving consults for spiritual needs but not requiring them prior to ... With this practice, referrals of at-risk Veterans to chaplaincy increased substantially, averaging 7-10 consults/month (June 2015-Dec 2017)!
Additionally, some sites have modified the process to include proactive chaplaincy outreach to Veterans on the Facility High Risk list and/or by receiving consults for spiritual needs but not requiring them prior to outreach. For more information, check out the article linked below. See more
Images
Consult trial period results
- Description of a VA quality improvement initiative Increasing Chaplain Support for Veterans at High Risk for Suicide through Targeted Outreach
Files
Metrics
- We continue to analyze referrals to/from mental health and chaplaincy for at-risk Veterans and coordination of care in context of COVID-19 pandemic.
Diffusion tracker
Does not include Clinical Resource Hubs (CRH)
Multimedia
Images
The ongoing refinement of this practice is supported by the Integrative Mental Health (IMH) Dynamic Diffusion Network (DDN). The DDN is a network of IMH-trained chaplains and mental health partners who have developed collaborative approaches to suicide prevention and moral injury care.
Implementation
Timeline
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Month 1
Identify team members, have preliminary conversations about collaborationCAC develops consult in medical record system -
Ongoing
Monitoring and continuous refinement of understanding and processes
Departments
- Chaplaincy
- Suicide prevention
Core Resources
| Resource type | Resource description |
|---|---|
PEOPLE |
|
PROCESSES |
|
Files
- Religious involvement as protective factor for suicide risk Koenig 2016 Religious involvement and suicide
- Spiritual care frames for suicide prevention work Kopacz 2014 Chaplains in suicide prevention
- Self-report data on VA Chaplaincy involvement with at-risk Veterans Kopacz 2015 Chaplain services and suicide
- Understanding chaplain roles in VA suicide prevention Kronick 2019 Chaplain roles [slides]
- VA's Suicide Prevention Program VHA Directive 1160.07
- Directive 1111 Spiritual and Pastoral Care in the Veterans Health Administration VHA Directive 1111 - Updated July 21, 2021
Links
- Resources for integration of mental health and chaplaincy in clinical care Integrative Mental Health Dynamic Diffusion Network
Contact
Comment
Comments and replies are disabled for retired innovations and non-VA users.
Email VHADURCHAPSPCONSULT@va.gov with questions about this innovation.
About
Origin story
Original team
Ryan Parker
Chaplain
Gary Cunha
Suicide Prevention Coordinator
any additional guidance is welcomed
Sure thing Steven. Where are you in implementation? https://marketplace.va.gov/practices/chaplain-suicide-prevention-consult/planning-checklist
Lorna Graham (Chaplain) Plan to introduce this to our team in VT. Thank you!
Great! Here's the "checklist" which has been moved behind the "start adoption" button: https://marketplace.va.gov/practices/chaplain-suicide-prevention-consult/planning-checklist
Making strides to introduce this to our Healthcare Provider Team! Thanks for the hard work towards addressing this effort to protecting the lives of our veterans!
Great! Many of us implementing will meet on 2/25 via Teams. Let me know if you'd like to be added to that Team for Implementers.
Great site, even better work!
Thanks as always for the collaboration Check
Central Texas Veterans HCS (CTVHCS) implementing this consult as part of the Suicide Prevention Clinic (SPC) of which we have a designated chaplain assigned to the SPC.
Thanks for the reminder Byron. We'll get you added on the map!