Practice Facilitation to Enhance Implementation of a Pediatric Suicide Prevention Pathway

Practice facilitation (PF) is a supplemental support to increase competence and and adoption of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) youth suicide prevention. pathway in primary care. Practices will receive 6 months of PF which involves clinic- and provider- level data review and adoption data for the 5 components of the prevention pathway, clinical coaching around implementing the different components , logistical coaching in identifying multilevel contextual barriers to implementation and strategies to overcome them

Training in the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) Youth Suicide Prevention Pathway involves a 2-hour in-person presentation created in consultation with NIMH, Zero Suicide and Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. It is delivered by a licensed professional counselor with content expertise to all primary care practice personnel involved in the prevention pathway. The first hour focuses on conducting Ask Suicide Screening Questions (ASQ) screening, identifying risk/protective factors, identifying warning signs and conducting a brief suicide safety assessment. The second hour covers safety planning, lethal means safety, behavioral health referrals and arranging follow-up. Didactic and interactive methods are used, including group discussion, activities, videos and case vignettes