Seattle University Collaborative Projects - International Academy of ...

Patients of a forensic psychiatric clinic are at high risk of becoming suicidal because they arementally ill, in an exceptional situation, not knowing when or if they will leave the clinic. Manytimes they have drug problems or have already attempted to commit suicide. In the forensicpsychiatric clinic in Andernach four patients out of 390 committed suicide within 16 months.Until last year the clinic did not have structural management for suicide prevention, therefore itwas decided to start a project. The aim was to develop a structural program of suicide preventionin order to recognize suicidal patients, to talk about this subject and also to get the staff to feelsafe. The recommendations include: A quality standard with criteria regarding structure, processand outcome to identify suicidal patients in order to handle the crisis; giving a flyer to allpatients; and offering patients the possibility to talk in a group about "suicide" including tailormadeteaching lessons. The aim is now to implement the standard, to create a flyer and todevelop special teaching lessons. The staff needs further training regarding suicidality and clinicprevention of suicide, all this well-planned and computer-based.Suicide in German and Austrian Prisons: A Chance to Change?Katharina Bennefeld-Kersten, Höhbeck, Germany (suizidforschung@gmx.de)Stefan Fuchs, Austrian Directorate for Prison Administration, Austria (stefan.fuchs@justiz.gv.at)Between 2000 and 2011, nearly 85 prisoners committed suicide in Germany each year. Thisnumber is the result of a study conducted by the Criminological Services Unit of the Lower Stateof Saxony. In Austria, the average number of suicides in prisons for that period was a little morethan 10. There was a reduction in these figures from 2000 to 2005, and in the last couple of yearsthe number of suicides has been increasing again.Are there differences between suicides inAustrian and German prisons? What causes this high number of people to think they have noalternative to suicide? What are the most important characteristics of people with suicidaltendencies and what can we do in order to help them? This presentation addresses the followingtopics: (1) The background and main facts about prison suicides and (2) explanations and basicknowledge about safety measures that play a decisive role in these settings.Crisis Line for Prisoners – An Attempt to Establish Alternatives: Talking Insteadof Taking Away!Katharina Bennefeld-Kersten, Höhbeck, Germany (suizidforschung@gmx.de)The high number of suicides in German prisons gives us cause to concern. Are we taking enoughcare of prisoners, especially in the first instance of imprisonment? The normal method ofhandling people with suicidal thoughts is safety measures. This means separating the inmate307