Citation

Kopacz MS, Kane CP, Pigeon WR, Nieuwsma JA. J. Health Care Chaplain 2017; 23(4): 167-173.

Affiliation

d Duke University Medical Center , Durham , North Carolina , USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2017, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/08854726.2017.1312813

PMID

28426335

Abstract

This descriptive study examines the provision of chaplaincy services to veterans who sought health care at a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Medical Center following a suicide attempt. A system-wide VA database of suicidal behavior was used to identify a cohort of n = 22,701 veterans who survived a suicide attempt. Next, an electronic review of VA clinical records found that n = 7,447 (32.8%) received chaplaincy services in the 30 days following their attempt. Of this group, the overwhelming majority of first chaplaincy encounters took place in in-patient settings: n = 6890 (92.5%). First chaplaincy encounters most often occurred 1-7 days following the attempt: n = 5,033 (67.6%). Most chaplaincy service users had only one chaplaincy encounter: n = 3,514 (47.2%). The findings suggest that, at VA Medical Centers, a relatively sizeable percentage of suicide attempt survivors have contact with chaplaincy services. Additional research is needed to ascertain if chaplaincy services yield any therapeutic benefit for this group.

Language: en

Keywords

chaplains; suicide; utilization review; veterans