@article{ref1,
title="Chaplaincy encounters following a suicide attempt",
journal="Journal of health care chaplaincy",
year="2017",
author="Kopacz, Marek S. and Kane, Cathleen P. and Pigeon, Wilfred R. and Nieuwsma, Jason A.",
volume="23",
number="4",
pages="167-173",
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.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="0885-4726",
doi="10.1080/08854726.2017.1312813",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/08854726.2017.1312813"
}