TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2017//
TI  - Chaplaincy encounters following a suicide attempt
JO  - Journal of health care chaplaincy
A1  - Kopacz, Marek S.
A1  - Kane, Cathleen P.
A1  - Pigeon, Wilfred R.
A1  - Nieuwsma, Jason A.
SP  - 167
EP  - 173
VL  - 23
IS  - 4
N2  - 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>
LA  - en
SN  - 0885-4726
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/08854726.2017.1312813
ID  - ref1
ER  -