Due to necessary scheduled maintenance, the JMIR Publications website will be unavailable from Wednesday, July 01, 2020 at 8:00 PM to 10:00 PM EST. We apologize in advance for any inconvenience this may cause you.
Who will be affected?
Readers: No access to all 28 journals. We recommend accessing our articles via PubMed Central
Authors: No access to the submission form or your user account.
Reviewers: No access to your user account. Please download manuscripts you are reviewing for offline reading before Wednesday, July 01, 2020 at 7:00 PM.
Editors: No access to your user account to assign reviewers or make decisions.
Copyeditors: No access to user account. Please download manuscripts you are copyediting before Wednesday, July 01, 2020 at 7:00 PM.
Dimeff LA, Koerner K, Heard K, Ruork A, Kelley-Brimer A, Witterholt ST, Lardizabal MB, Clubb JR, Kehneman M, McComish J, Waghray A, Dowdy R, Asad-Pursley S, Ilac M, Lawrence H, Zhou F, Beadnell B
A Suicide Prevention Digital Technology for Individuals Experiencing an Acute Suicide Crisis in Emergency Departments: Naturalistic Observational Study of Real-World Acceptability, Feasibility, and Safety
A Suicide Prevention Digital Technology for Individuals Experiencing an Acute Suicide Crisis in Emergency Departments: Naturalistic Real-World Acceptability, Feasibility, and Safety
Linda A. Dimeff;
Kelly Koerner;
Kandi Heard;
Allison Ruork;
Angela Kelley-Brimer;
Suzanne T. Witterholt;
Mary Beth Lardizabal;
Joseph R. Clubb;
Melicia Kehneman;
Julie McComish;
Arpan Waghray;
Roger Dowdy;
Sara Asad-Pursley;
Maria Ilac;
Hannah Lawrence;
Frank Zhou;
Blair Beadnell
ABSTRACT
Background:
Emergency departments (EDs) are the front line in providing suicide care. Expert consensus recommends delivery of several suicide prevention evidence-based interventions for acutely suicidal individuals in the ED. ED personnel demands and staff shortages compromise delivery and contribute to long wait times and unnecessary hospitalization. Digital technologies play an important role in helping EDs deliver suicide care without placing further demands on the care team if their use is safe to patients in a routine care context.
Objective:
This study evaluates the safety and effectiveness of an evidence-based digital technology (Jaspr Health) designed for acutely suicidal persons seeking psychiatric crisis ED services when used as part of routine ED–based suicide care.
Methods:
Under the auspices of a nonsignificant risk device study, acutely suicidal ED patients (N=962) from two healthcare systems representing 10 EDs and one psychiatric inpatient unit received access to Jaspr Health as part of their routine suicide care.
Results:
No adverse events were reported, suggesting that digital technologies can be safely used for people seeking ED–based psychiatric services. Statistically significant reductions in agitation and distress were reported after using the app. Patient task completion rates ranged from 51% to 79%. Average patient satisfaction ratings by site were 7.81 (SD = 2.22) and 7.10 (SD = 2.65), with over 80% recommending the app to others.
Conclusions:
Digital technologies like Jaspr Health may be safely and effectively used with acutely suicidal patients in the ED to help deliver evidence-based suicide care. These findings hold promise for the use of digital technologies in delivering evidence-based care to other vulnerable populations in complex environments.
Citation
Please cite as:
Dimeff LA, Koerner K, Heard K, Ruork A, Kelley-Brimer A, Witterholt ST, Lardizabal MB, Clubb JR, Kehneman M, McComish J, Waghray A, Dowdy R, Asad-Pursley S, Ilac M, Lawrence H, Zhou F, Beadnell B
A Suicide Prevention Digital Technology for Individuals Experiencing an Acute Suicide Crisis in Emergency Departments: Naturalistic Observational Study of Real-World Acceptability, Feasibility, and Safety