Suicide prevention: Evaluation of a pilot intervention in a primary care context

Abstract

Background From July 2008 to June 2011, 19 Australian Divisions of General Practice piloted specialist services for consumers at risk of suicide within a broader primary mental health program. General practitioners and other mental health staff referred suicidal consumers to specially trained mental health professionals for intensive, time-limited care.Aims To report the findings from an evaluation of the pilot.Method Data sources included a purpose-designed minimum data set, which collated consumer-level and session-level data, and a series of structured telephone interviews conducted with Divisional project officers, referrers and mental health professionals.Results There were 2312 referra..