A unique model of care for youth in crisis: A pilot open trial.

Abstract

Suicide is the second leading cause of death for those ages 10–24 years in the United States, and emergency department (ED) visits due to youth self-injurious thoughts and behaviors (SITB) and increased substantially between 2016 and 2021. Although ED services are essential for an effective system of care, the ED setting is typically not well-suited for the comprehensive, collaborative, and therapeutic evaluation of SITB; treatment planning; and care coordination that youth in a suicidal crisis need. As a result, an urgent care model for mental health designed to provide comprehensive crisis triage and intervention services is needed within outpatient psychiatry. This pilot trial examined the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary clinical outcomes of a brief, urgent care model, the Behavioral Health Crisis Care Clinic (CCC), designed to provide comprehensive outpatient triage and intervention services aimed at reducing suicide risk for youth in crisis. Participants were 189 youth (ages 10–20; 62.4% females; 58% Caucasian) who had past-week suicidal ideation or behavior and their caregivers. The results demonstrated the CCC model exceeded feasibility and acceptability benchmarks based on the Service Satisfaction Scale (M score >3.00). CCC care was associated with significant decreases in self-reported suicide risk based on the Collaborative Assessment and Management of Suicidality Suicide Status Form with low levels of ED usage during CCC care (7.7%) and 1-month posttreatment (11.8%). Over 88% of patients without established outpatient care at the time of referral were connected to care during CCC treatment, almost all of whom (95%) continued with ongoing mental health care 1 month after ending CCC care.