Primary Care

Primary care is the setting in which Americans receive most of their health and behavioral health care.  Frequent contacts and long-standing relationships between primary care providers (PCPs) and their patients make primary care an ideal setting for suicide prevention.

Why Address Suicide Prevention

• People who die by suicide are more likely to have seen a PCP in the previous month before their death than any other health care provider.¹
• For a patient at risk for suicide, a visit with the PCP may be the only chance to access needed care.
• National health care improvement efforts (e.g., patient-centered medical homes) are providing new ways to integrate suicide prevention into primary care.

How Primary Care Providers Can Take Action

The best way to prevent suicide is to use a comprehensive approach that includes these key components:

• Establish protocols for screening, assessment, intervention, and referral
• Train all staff in suicide care practices and protocols, including safety planning and lethal means counseling
• Create agreements with specific behavioral health practices that will take referrals
• Ensure continuity of care by transmitting patient health information to emergency care and behavioral health care providers to create seamless care transitions and follow up with at-risk patients by phone between visits
• Provide information on the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline crisis line and services

Reference

1. Ahmedani, B. K., Simon, G. E., Stewart, C., Beck, A., Waitzfelder, B. E., Rossom, R., . . . Solberg, L. I. (2014). Health care contacts in the year before suicide death. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 29(6), 870–877.

Learn More

• See the Recommended Resources below selected by SPRC personnel.
• See All Resources Related to Primary Care for a full list of materials, programs, trainings, and other information available from SPRC. Use the filters on the left to narrow your results.
• For more on other settings and groups, see our Settings and Populations pages.